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38
TOBACCO OUTLET BUSINESS
JULY/AUGUST 2012
Show Business
Subculture
There’s no business like pipe show business,
and I’m back to report on the grandest
one of all—The Chicago Show.
By Bill Doherty, head of market development, Daughters & Ryan
A
s you develop and enrich your
pipe business, be mindful of the
underlying consumer culture
beating just below the surface. Pipe
smoking today is not just a hobby, it’s
a subculture unto itself, and all across
the country, there are educational and
entertaining pipe and tobacco shows
bringing together lovers of the pipe.
These are consumer shows, open to the
public and offering a good opening for
tobacco outlet retailers to really rock
with the business.
I returned in May from the
granddaddy of all pipe tobacco shows,
The Chicagoland International Pipe
& Tobacciana Show, more commonly
abbreviated in the industry as
The Chicago Show, hosted by The
Chicagoland Pipe Collectors Club,
CPCC. The show first started in 1996
as a local pipe show (and there are many
around the country), but quickly caught
on nationally thanks to its central U.S.
location and its attraction to vendors
from around the world. It has grown
this year to 283 vendors and is now the
largest pipe show in the world. It’s also
a ton of fun.
The actual show itself takes place at
the beautiful Pheasant Run Resort in
St. Charles, Illinois, and lasts for two
days (this year, Saturday and Sunday,
May 5 and 6) but the whole event in
general is bigger than that. For instance,
they start off on the Wednesday before