I learned recently from a Forums member that my local Tinder Box at Crabtree Valley Mall in Raleigh, N.C., has closed. I haven't gone by to stare at the closed storefront, yet. This is where I bought my first pipe around the time it opened about 42 years ago, in a nearby different location. About ten years ago they went to a larger space but to a less trafficked area. I had noticed recently that their pipe inventory had diminished somewhat. They still had a fair array of tinned pipe tobacco and their traditional bulk blends, many of them renamed Lane etc. But the clear leader on revenue stream was their cigar humidor. Because of the mall location, they never had a smoking area of any kind. In recent years, many storefront cigar bars at lower rent locations have likely chewed into their profits. If any good comes of this, I hope it is that it will pump up the customer base of my local independent Pipes by George, across town near the NCSU campus. I'm not sure of the status of the Tinder Box chain in general, but the closing of this longstanding location can't be a good sign, for Tinder Box or the pipe smoking market. I'll smoke a bowl in my St. Ives Tinder Box house pipe and hope for the best for the remaining shops in the area that carry pipe and pipe tobacco. When I Googled the Tinder Box, there were many sites that listed it as if it was open, but a sidebar that gave information on the old store hours and address, etc., but then has a curt note at the top: Permanently Closed.
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