Just got back from my local Tinder Box

[Headmint]

Wouldn't it be nice if we pipe smokers weren't just an afterthought in brick-n-mortar tobacco cigar shops? Jeez. What a depressing experience.

I'm new to this town and like everywhere else, you basically have little or no selection of pipe tobaccos you can get without using the internet. So I was excited to discover a Tinder Box.

The only tinned tobacco they had was two offerings, that is to say, two individual tins of Davidoff, overpriced by approximately $11 (compared to the net). The guy had to go dig them up out of the back.

Jeez.

 

[tslots]

Just like most shops, they stock what sells - and pipe tobacco sales have significantly lagged cigars for decades.

Doesn't matter much to me anymore. I haven't purchased at local (Calif) shops for many years due to the high prices and low selections. I do appreciate the major online pipe shops though as they have a huge selection and unbeatable prices.

 

[msmith1956]

It's a shame how bad it is now... the only TB in the Atlanta area is over 60 miles away from me, but it's not worth the drive. They have way more wine and cigars than pipe stuff. It's sad to see a company that I used to work for become what they are today.

 

[Headmint]

It's pretty disheartening, but I ALWAYS get excited about B&Ms, even though I am always, always disappointed. None of them have an interest in cornering their local pipe smokers market with a good selection and decent prices. The pipe smokers market in any given location is, what, five dudes? Guess I can't really blame them.

I resolve to no longer get my hopes up, dammit.

I'm probably the only pipe smoker in this town of around 100,000. Seriously. When I'm enjoying a bowl and am out for a walk or driving I get constant looks and smiles, almost as if I were wearing a monocle or tooling around in a stagecoach or something.

 

[TwoADayDanny]

My local B&M is Iwan Ries. As far as I can tell, they've cornered the pipe smokers market in the entire Chicago metropolitan area... except that they haven't. Their tins are a buck or two more expensive than what the big online shops are listing them at. And that's got to be killing their business.

I'm sure IR isn't trying to gouge their customers. I'm sure that they are marking up their products as competively as they can, in light of their overhead. Apparently, it's just no longer competitive to carry rent in your overhead anymore. Which (to me) is a shame.

I read just now that Borders is apparently liquidating. I live in terror that this 154 year old Shangri La of pipe smoking is going to suffer the same fate.

 

[Blackhorse]

God bless little 'ol Portland, Oregon. I can't tell you how lucky we are to have one outstanding and one pretty fair B&M in town...plus another couple of outstanding cigar stores/lounges. The premier is Rich's which has been here 4-ever. Until a short while ago they had one of the country's best blenders...but they've parted ways for some reason...though tbey still carry his blends. They have more pipes than even I could ever want...all makers, all levels. What's really rewarding is that they also carry cigars...but the pipeweed, gear and the pipes themselves DWARF the number and selection of cigars. Truely a bastion of pipedom. Sure, their in house blends tend to run high but they are of super quality and very unique even in this age of (say this like Carl Sagan) "billions" of available blends. Totally a 'you get what you pay for' kinda thing. And even though I mostly smoke Stonehaven and Stormfront I can always find something unique, of superior quality and delicious there to fit into the gaps. I know that even the big cities in this land of ours are often lacking even one place to hold a new briar prior to a buy...or find even a basic selection of tobacco that an experienced smoker would find of interest...so man, I do indeed feel blessed!

 

[mike_68]

Funny you mention the TB...the one here in Lakeland is VERY cigar oriented but they do have their house blends available...of course, as you noted NO tinned stuff...

We have an Edward's Pipe and Tobacco here as well which doesn't carry much tinned but has a pretty nice selection of pipes and house toby, and when you actually show an interest the staff seem pretty helpful and knowledgable about pipes which is a step in the right direction at least. Still would be nice to be able to support local...but oh well. I guess that's what the "Internets" are for!

 

[forsooth]

Just a comment on Iwan Ries. I just ordered and received 2 pipes from them -- a little over $200.00. They offered great, fast service, and the prices were more than competitive with "online-only" vendors on these pipes.

I really hope that as a B&M they keep going. One can imagine the tax burden and other oppressive fees and regulations that they are bombarded with in Chicago.

I have a Tinder Box about 25 miles away. I went there only once, about 6 months ago, anxious to see what they had. It was clearly cigar-oriented, to which I say, kudos for the cigar-smokers. Who knows, I might be one in the future. I will be a broke one, as I will have spent my last dime on pipes and pipe tobacco.

 

[Maiser]

...meanwhile, in the tobacco-rich city of Charleston of south carolina...

I am always willing to help out a brother, local B&M's have rare stuff in stock all the time (Penzance, gawith, saw some vintage dunhills once...) so if you are looking for something in particular it wouldn't hurt me at all to make a quick trip to the store and send it to you at cost.

-Mike.

 

[KevinP]

In the heyday of Tinderbox (in the late 80s, there were at least four TBs within an hour's drive from me), they varied considerably whether the local proprietor was a pipe smoker or a cigar smoker. There was usually a second guy who was in the other category though, and it was hit-or-miss who's shift you came in on.

They never varied as much as in your experience, of course.

 

[SingleMalt]

I know EXACTLY what you mean. I've gone to almost all the cigar lounges in my area (there aren't any PIPE lounges, ofc). The one I went to most recently had the biggest selection of pipe stuff so far, and it was pathetic. Six big yellowed cylinders of cheap "house blend" sticky aromatics, and a few tins of Sutliff ("Great Outdoors") and House of Windsor ("Bourbon Street"), marked waaaay up. I guess you're an aficionado if you're looking at TINS of anything...

So at those places, I just buy a cheap cigar, maybe a beer, and ask if I can smoke my pipe. Most of them think of it as a novelty, so they're cool with it. I figure the more people smoke pipes in public, maybe the more it'll catch on. I try to do my part to rekindle interest in pipe smoking. It'd be great if I had some people to share my new hobby with.

I usually get a lot of questions, like what am I smoking, what kind of pipe is that, etc. I try not to sound like a snob. I've even bought some corncobs and handed them out to cigar-smoking friends with a mixed sampler of tobacco to get them to give it a try. So far, I've gotten some goodwill but no converts. It helps that I also smoke cigars with them, so we have some common interests already.

 

[riff raff]

I've been in some big (giant) cigar shops in NJ that also advertise pipes. One, the largest cigar lounge/club I've ever seen (and bills it self that way) "Cigars International", near Allentown PA had a big sign over the door that read "Pipes & Cigars". I looked all over the vast building/rooms but couldn't find any pipes. I asked the college-age counter guy where they had pipes. He looked at me very strangely and said they didn't have any pipes. I told him about the sign and he shrugged his shoulders replying "huh". Pretty much the same for the vast JR Cigars in Whippany, NJ. A tiny display case of pipes (can't recall the brand). A few overpriced canisters of tobacco. I left both.

I'm fortunate to travel near some great shops in PA and NY. My closest Maryland shop is 70 miles away, in Baltimore (Faders).

 

[Vercer]

I've been fairly lucky I guess to have had two stores reasonably nearby. One, a Tinderbox that stocks very little tobacco but a reasonable selection of pipes and another that has a decent selection of both, along with racks, tampers and such.

I recently found another nearby store in Greensboro called The Pipe and Pint that has become my new home away from home. A wonderful smoking lounge, great selection of tobacco, pipes, cigars and wines along with a staff that actually knows about the hobby. They've even had some fairly hard to find tobaccos in stock, including the latest addition to my cellar, a 1lb bag of Squadron Leader that already has close to two years of age on it.

 

[Blue Max]

We have a pretty good one here in Jackson Mississippi that very much caters to the pipe smokers. It's a dirty place though so I don't like hanging around.

I was in Memphis this past weekend and stopped in the Tinder Box in Wolf Chase and was very pleasantly surprised. The staff was friendly and the selection of pipes and tobacco was phenomenal. Now, it's a 3-hour drive but if I can combine it with something else it might be worth it.

I know what you mean about looking like an anachronism but, hey, someone's got to do it.

 

[greasemunki85]

hey blue..
We have a great tobacco shop just south/west of the wolfchase on I240 - off the Mt Moriah Exit - Tobacco Corner
Heavily Caters to Pipe Smokers - also has a lounge, probably a hundred pipes up in that place. The Tinned' selection isn't just Steller, but its pretty good - mostly McCleland and some Escudo, stuff like that. They have a VA Flake Vanilla Blend called Picadilly that puts any other Vanilla blend ive ever tried to shame... Good stuff.. and good people that work there too..
Ive seen pictures of Iwan Ries and PaylessPipes, places like that, and wonder why we cant have a place like that in memphis, but then you read some of the other horror storys, and you have to be thankful for what you have sometime, and we have some good pipe places in the bluff city.

 

[Cody V]

+1 to the Tobacco Corner. I was in there Friday night. They have a ton new pipes. And as far as tinned tobacco, $20 for 2007 Christmas Cheer is pretty good

 

[Jimbo]

I reckon in SD it may be tough to find a decent place, but just to give you a glimmer of hope, let me assure you there are many good B&Ms still out there. Here are a few I've been to recently that impressed me:

Outlaw Cigar in K.C. (two locations)
Cigar & Tabac in K.C.
The Briary in Homewood (Birmingham) AL
Golden Leaf in Minneapolis (and St. Paul)
El Fumador in Sewickly (Pittsburgh) PA
Just For Him in Springfield, MO

Some of these are merely decent, some are amazing. Some have more reasonable prices than others. But they all have plenty to keep a pipe smoker interested.

Chin up, my friend, they're still out there! (Maybe you should start a good piper's B&M in your town!??!)

 

[Tim_Haggerty]

I'm always happy I live here. We've got too good tobacconists in town and a mediocre one, but I can get good tobacco. On road trips though, I have been known to stop at a local B&M, scored a few old tins a few times. It's part of the fun.

 

[alfredo_buscatti]

Before their move, around 1/11, to a new location, the Pipe and Pint carried about 10Xs the amount of pipes and tobacco that they do now. Larry, the owner, is a pipe smoker and indeed is very friendly and knowledgeable.

I used to frequent the lounge, which was open to me whether or not I bought something.

Great shop!

 

[calipuffer]

Went to the premier pipe B&M in my area which I rarely frequent due to heavy traffic most any time to get there (and just out of my way). The two gentleman (one smoking a pipe) were very friendly. They are cigar and pipe only, with a large cigar collection and decent pipe selection. The tin tobacco selection is weak, mostly focused on their own store blends. They did have many SG blends. Of the tins they do sell, they weren't very knowledgeable, which is a main reason for someone to visit a B&M. The price per tin was almost 70-80% higher than online (before tax). I bought two tins to show my support, but not likely I'll be back any time soon.

Interesting side note: three groups of teenagers came by asking about glass pipes. Which they didn't sell, but I was told they are thinking about it since they get a lot of inquiries.