B&M Hatred?

[J Soshae]

I feel for all you guys. When you want the "perfect" shop, come visit Birmingham!

No, I do not work there, I am just a very satisfied customer. Too bad there is not more money in the budget to spend there.

 

[Anonymous]

I feel for all you guys. When you want the "perfect" shop, come visit Birmingham!

Looks (over the internet) like a seriously great place.

Walter Bradford, Tobacconist in Birmingham Ala. was my mentor/friend in 1974-5. Lost touch when I moved but still have three pipes he sold me. Heck of a great guy.

:face:

 

[Kyle Weiss]

The clientele of a place is just as critical as product, procedure and all the other "business" aspects of a shop. We have a cigar and pipe shop here in Reno that isn't my Tinder box. I sort of know the owner, and he's an alright guy, and the building is big, and beautiful. Their pipe selection is modest; a few Petes, Stanwells and cheaper stuff. Very little pipe tobacco to speak of, and their house tobacco in jars is all Captain Black. The problem there is the guys who take over the place. "Yup-necks" abound, guys with relatively new pickup trucks (must be Power Stroke or Ram/Cummins to be "in") with another $40,000 worth of tires, lift kits, paint jobs (not that they'd ever take their babies in the dirt). They usually park in two parking spots, and six or eight of them line up next to each other. They literally take over the place. Once inside, if you don't smoke certain cigars, these customer elites will actually ask you to sit somewhere else (or better yet, leave). If you bring out a pipe, they've laughed amongst themselves saying there's local queer bars that allow pipe smoking, etc.

The owner seems oblivious to this. I'm not sure if it's because they do spend so much money, or if he somewhat condones the activity. He and his manager have always been okay to me. They know nothing about pipes, and the somewhat hostile atmosphere due to their patrons is inexcusable. But hey pays the rent. *shrug*

So, Tinder Box it is for around here.

 

[Mikem]

Greetings,

I have found that you don't even have to open the door of a head shop to know exactly what lies inside. The awful, nauseating, sickening stench of incense will assault your nose before you step foot inside.

All these places, with very few exceptions, stink like patuli incense. And everything on the shelves does too. YUK!

What are they hiding? Something illicit? We all know how Patuli is effective at masking lingering marijuana smoke. Hmm. :roll:

A true tobacconist has a fragrance like nothing else. Sweet, aromatic tobacco, mixed with latakia and cigar smoke. In other words, wonderful!

When searching for a tobacconist, trust your nose.

CACooper

I sure miss your shop. It was always great visiting, sitting down for a good smoke and listening to your Dad's stories about the old days and pipe smoking. Not to mention the great blends you would mix up for me.

 

[CACooper]

Thanks for the kind words, Mike. I did enjoy my 10 years in business, and the visits from customers like yourself, every day. Believe me, I miss it too.

But to tell the truth, if I was still open today, I'd be planning my exit from the tobacco business anyway, most likely within the next few years. The moment Obama signed the FDA regulations, the industry's days were numbered. Once the cigar regulations kick in, and they will, the business as we know it today, will be a thing of the past.

No more walk-in humidors or pipe tobacco sampling. Everything will be locked up out of view. Customers will select cigars or tobacco from a catalog of black and white photos at the counter, with required warning labels, of course. You will not be able to view, touch, or smell the product prior to sale. These requirements are all laid out in the draft regulations by the FDA.

The whole essence of being a tobacconist is lost. Blending, smelling and creating new blends in front of customers will be banned. Sampling a new blend? Illegal. Touching a cigar prior to purchase? Forbidden.

Not the way I would want to continue in business. All the joy and fun is taken away. Over-reaching government regulations have a way of sucking the life out of things.

Well, we voted for change.

CACooper

 

[CACooper]

Here's some memories, Mike. Yep, I do miss it. It was a lot of fun while it lasted.

The Village Smokeshop, Scottsdale, AZ - circa 2004-05.

Note: The pipe racks you made are in the corner shelf above the pipe display.

CACooper

 

[Scot's]

Thanks for the kind words, Mike. I did enjoy my 10 years in business, and the visits from customers like yourself, every day. Believe me, I miss it too.

But to tell the truth, if I was still open today, I'd be planning my exit from the tobacco business anyway, most likely within the next few years. The moment Obama signed the FDA regulations, the industry's days were numbered. Once the cigar regulations kick in, and they will, the business as we know it today, will be a thing of the past.

No more walk-in humidors or pipe tobacco sampling. Everything will be locked up out of view. Customers will select cigars or tobacco from a catalog of black and white photos at the counter, with required warning labels, of course. You will not be able to view, touch, or smell the product prior to sale. These requirements are all laid out in the draft regulations by the FDA.

The whole essence of being a tobacconist is lost. Blending, smelling and creating new blends in front of customers will be banned. Sampling a new blend? Illegal. Touching a cigar prior to purchase? Forbidden.

Not the way I would want to continue in business. All the joy and fun is taken away. Over-reaching government regulations have a way of sucking the life out of things.

Well, we voted for change.

CACooper

Breaks my heart...

Scott

 

[Scot's]

Here's some memories, Mike. Yep, I do miss it. It was a lot of fun while it lasted.

The Village Smokeshop, Scottsdale, AZ - circa 2004-05.

Note: The pipe racks you made are in the corner shelf above the pipe display.

CACooper

I will never see anything like this again.

Scott

 

[Sloppy Joe Hemingway]

I could only dream of finding a neighborhood shop like that. Sad times... some of the above listed comments relaying tales of being over-run by what are commonly referred to as "D-Bags" is the reason I don't frequent my local B&M smoking room and have taken to doing my drinking amongst friends in my own home or in theirs, never, sadly, in one of the nice local bars, saloons, taverns etc. Even the classy, been-there-since-the-beginnning-of-time corner Irish pub has seen the locals leave only to be repopulated by ignorant drunks who think they are MMA super stars and think it is their right to make crude comments or grope at any lady who has the misfortune of stepping through the door. Seems to be a sad trend going on...

 

[Kyle Weiss]

Class isn't dead, it's just uncouth and hard to find in this, our modern world. Remember, everything makes a comeback eventually. 8)

 

[Slide]

I'm lucky as far as atmosphere at my local shop. The owner smokes a pipe as much or more than cigars. I think I bought my 2nd - 7th or so pipe from him. Most mornings you can walk in and find pipe and cigar smokers drinking coffee and enjoying their smoke of choice.

Very little in the way of tinned tobacco. Some but not much. But with state taxes I would rather get that somewhere else anyway.

 

[GuitarMyFriend]

That man's nothing short of a cry baby with a hair on his lollipop. If you don't like walking into stores that sell things you're not interested in, don't walk into them. My local B&M and aparently only B&M in the entire top half of Michigan sells mainly cigars, candles, and incense. They have a decent amount of basket pipes, and a handful of Petersons, Vikings, and 2 Bjarnes. They have an amazing smoking lounge and 1 dollar pipe tobacco samples. When I have a day off I walk the dog for about an hour or two, than grab a couple of my pipes, about 4 dollars, and go watch the Discovery Channel and chat with ol' timers, or teach a younger guy how to pack a pipe. The owner is a fantastic man. They have cigar/pipe movie nights where people go to sit, relax, smoke, talk, and watch a flick. (Usually a good western). If I didn't like it, I wouldn't go. But I like it because of the atmosphere. They have a small glass case for their glass pipes. To cut it short, If you don't like it? Find another shop.

 

[Greyson]

Damn, that sounds pretty cool going to a smoking lounge and watching a western with the guys... I need to find a place like that!

 

[Mikem]

Craig,

Thanks for the pictures down memory lane. I have two of the glass pipe tobacco blend jars from the shop that were on the carousel. One of which had the "Proper English" label on it (my go to blend at your shop). Rick had a bunch of them for sale at his shop at Stag's.

 

[Natch]

I've had similar experiences to that article (and some complete opposite, wonderful conversations and experiences at a B&M) but I thought his verbiage was cleaver and amusing. Kept me chuckling throughout, and touched on some true statements (at least in my experiences) from time to time.

Natch

 

[Kyle Weiss]

So goes humor... when it's obvious, it's usually not funny. When it's funny, it's usually not obvious. :lol:

Then again, I don't get most humor. But I get laughed at quite a bit. :scratch:

8)