Puzzled by local tobacco stores - Texas

[wcasey]

Are there any good local stores in Fort Worth Texas that caters to pipes and pipe tobaccos?
I've been to several tobacco/cigar shops and most of them do not carry pipes and just give me odd looks when I inquire.
I found 1 established tobacco/cigar shop that carries some pipes and tobaccos, but I was shocked that they didn't know anything about the pipes and pipe tobaccos they were selling.
This afternoon I branched out of aromatics and purchased some Dunhill 965. I asked the owner (an older gentleman) and another worker there about the english tobaccos, blends and what they thought of them. The only comments I got were "Sorry I don't know. I don't smoke a pipe". They were happily puffing away on their cigars and I went ahead and took a chance on the Dunhill 965 from the reviews on the forum. I asked them about Dunhill EMP and Night Cap because the didn't have it in stock. The ownwer said "I think I've heard of Night Cap before"
I think it just kinda blew my mind that they didn't know their stuff. The shop has been in business for almost 20 years.
I really did get some strange looks from them when I inquired about the pipes they sold and asked to look at them. I had a feeling like I was the first person in ages to ask to open the pipe display cases.
How do you own a shop for 20 years and smoke cigars all day with 3 huge display cases full of pipes and never smoke a pipe?

 

[warren]

Obviously not much of a demand for pipes or pipe knowledge in Fort Worth.

 

[monty55]

I'm not sure about the Dallas/Ft Worth area, but I know Texas in general is very much lacking in the pipe dept. Houston has 1 really good shop, The Briar Shop. After that, it's not much across the whole state. I know it sounds odd because Houston and Dallas, are the 4th and 5th largest cities in the U.S.! I am just assuming that most people in these two markets just order online, like me. Although I would probably frequent the Briar shop much more often if I didn't live an hour away and have to fight Houston traffic to get there and back. These metroplexes are so spread out that it almost requires a chain of anything for a lot of people to show up. The people who live in and around these cities do not want to fight the traffic unless they absolutely must. I think that is the proplem with Texas. It's either small farm communities, or large spread out metroplexes.

 

[tarak]

Well, when you say they don't know their stuff, do they claim that pipes are "their stuff"?
I think many B&Ms have long lost much for pipes- there is no money in it for them as the demand is low. Also, a $10 stick gets someone one smoke, a $10 (or $20 with tax) tin gets someone many smokes....just doesn't provide income for these folks. Its too bad, and a real shame

 

[gloucesterman]

The unfortunate reality is that B&M tobacco shops just can't compete with the large internet retailers on two levels. First they can't match the pricing structure the large retailers offer. Secondly the investment in inventory to have available what customers want is enormous. Imagine what a shop owner would have to spend to stock even a small fraction of today's available blends. The few shops that still remain have focused their attention on the cigar trade. Simply stated it's more profitable and without cigars most would have gone out of business long ago. Ask those folks about the best Rubusto in the shop and they will give you a well grounded opinion but ask about pipe tobacco and they don't have a clue nor is there much interest in developing any insight. Tragic but true and it's happening all over not just in Texas. It's hard to say "buy your tobacco locally" when that same tin you would pay $14.00 for can be had on the internet for $9.95 and be in your mailbox three days later without the hassle of traffic and parking. In some ways we have contributed to our own monster. We abandoned the B&Ms in favor of price and convenience. Now we wonder why the have abandoned us.

 

[wcasey]

Thanks for the feed back. A Cigar shop owner in Keller informed me of a shop I might try in downtown Fort Worth. I'll report back with my findings for any fellow Texas in the DFW area.

 

[igloo]

When it comes to Houston Monty has is right .Unless you are in the hood of Rice Village ,the Medical Center or the Galleria area life is too damn short and even a side trip takes a good hour and a half .When I was in the Dallas area of Plainview a few months back I really wanted to drive up to the North east side as Erik Stokkebye was supposed to be at a tobacco shop my dilemma was I had to be in Mesquite for a 5:00 pm dinner .It just was not going to happen . Same goes for Houston traffic dies down at 9:00am I am on the North side within a stones throw of Monty .I have lunch with a client on the south side of Houston at 11:00am . I have until 3:00pm to do business on the south side then it is time to get back up north or face the consequences . I can get a good cigar in 25 places a tin of pipe tobacco ,not so much .

 

[mso489]

In many places in the U.S., there's no revenue stream from pipes. Cigars and cigarettes are the profit makers. Pipes and pipe tobacco are strictly a sideline to wring a few more bucks out of their floor space. In terms of knowledge, again, the demographic of pipe smokers is small, so in hiring staff, it's not likely they'd turn up a good pipe man or woman. Also, the pipe smokers can be pretty far into the fine details of pipes and tobacco, so a staff person would have to be well trained. A few places have swallowed up the tight circle of pipe experts. Or so this all seems to me.

 

[dochudson]

At least the guy was honest and didn't try bs'ing..

 

[stapf]

Tobacco Cabana in Cedar Hill is about as good as you will get in the DFW area. No tins, but over 70 in bulk and they will try to mix up whatever you want from what they have. They have decent prices on most estates and still have a few good ones (including multiple Dunhills under $300 and some small taster sized Dunhills as cheap as $60 among others) that I haven't bought yet from an estate batch that came in 2 months ago. They have nearly 200 pipes although most are low end.
Jim works Tuesdays owns the shop and knows pipes. David works the rest of the week and is mostly a cigar guy, but is learning. I'm usually around at various times on SAT hanging out in the lounge or out front depending on the weather. Just ask David if I'm in the back if you want to smoke a bowl (edit my first name is Ross, last is my username here.) It is about 45 minutes southeast of Fort Worth. It is mostly cigar oriented, but the owner would love to see pipes pick up as I get the impression he enjoys them at least as much as cigars if not more.
There is a shop in downtown Fort Worth that I hear good things about, Tobacco Lane I think, but one guy I met on the Brothers of Briar forum who came to Tobacco Cabana said Tobacco Cabana blew it away for him. Colin Rigsby has had good things to say about The Leaf in Abilene, but I have yet to make the road trip out. There is a DFW Pipe Smokers group on Facebook that meet up once a month. Next one is May 21 at Taboo cigar bar and lounge in North Richland hills. Colin Rigsby has a different pipe club that meets at the Up in Smoke in Lewisville normally. I think it is the 2nd Tuesday of the month, but check his pipemaking website for the info. I have yet to make it to either group. We have been trying to get something started at Tobacco Cabana, but after the initial turn out it has dropped off and I've stopped pushing it so hard.

 

[wcasey]

Thanks Ross! I really appreciate the local info. It's a bit out of the way, but I'll definitely make a special trip out there in the near future. In the mean time, I think I'll head over to Tobacco Lane this weekend and check things out.
I hope to smoke a bowl with you in the future. Until then..... Smoke one for me! :puffpipe:

 

[cosmicfolklore]

When I think of Dallas, I think of big cigars and Cadillacs with horns on the front.

 

[randelli]

There is a Tobacco Lane store here in Weatherford that is pretty good. Some Pete's, Savanelli`s, lower end brands, and estate pipes - maybe 30 in the store. They have a small selection of tins and some bulk. John is the one guy that is there all day and is interesting to talk to. They have an upstairs loft to enjoy a pipe or cigar and you can bring your own frosty adult beverages.
Weatherford is a quick 25 minute trip West of Fort Worth and traffic is typically in your favor.
If you plan on coming out let me know and I will join you if I can.

 

[mso489]

Estate pipe markets vary from region to region too, in terms of flea markets and antique shops or even yard sales. Apparently my area (centeral N.C.) was mostly a cigarette and maybe to some degree a cigar region. I rarely encounter pipes at yard sales, antique stores, or even the very large flea markets. The Northeast seems to have a much more substantial tobacco pipe history and most antique stores or flea markets will have at least some pipes, occasionally quite a few, and some that are really good. In my area, I think the pipe culture is possibly stronger today than it was in earlier decades, but it hasn't shown up in the estate market yet. This is interesting because N.C. was a huge tobacco growing state until about 20 years ago, and still is, though it's fading. A strange factoid -- many people don't know that Connecticut is a big cigar tobacco growing state.

 

[txsasquatch]

I don't know of other parts of the state, but as mentioned already, The Briar Shop in Houston Rice Village is great. I went there a few years ago and picked up a nice cheap basket billiard when getting back into the hobby. They were very helpful folks. They have a moderate selection of bulk and tins too. During my most recent visit I picked up a few ounces of luxury bullseye flake and a tin of Orlik dark strong Kentucky. Enjoying both very much.

 

[deathmetal]

Part of the problem in Texas: for 3/4 of the year it's too damn hot to enjoy a smoke outside, and since the homes are all heavily air-conditioned, unless you have a separate building to smoke in, you're SOL for a chance to smoke your pipe.

 

[hextor]

I have the same problem here brother, shoot it is hard to look for a pipe frindly shop atound here, they look at me weird, or i feel out of place when i go an ask for a tin of tobacco, the briar shoppe is about the only place i trust around houston and i can actually watch a football game in pice while i enjoy my smoke.