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TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
JULY/AUGUST 2015
or looking to switch from tobacco to
vaping. When they come in, they are
happy as clams to have options in front
of them.”
Seeing tobacco in a tobacco store
doesn’t seem to come as a surprise to
vaping customers, says Lindquist. “It
doesn’t seem to affect them. It’s not like
they’re going to a vaping bar and getting
cigar smoke blown in their faces. There
are always some people who are going
to be against smoking tobacco, and there
are going to be some people that are
against vaping. Those people will preach
their own gospel about what they think is
good or bad for other people, I suppose,
and maybe some of those other people
will listen, but the folks who come in to
my stores usually know what they want
when they walk in, and they aren’t there
to get up on a soapbox.”
Best of Both Worlds
Both of Lindquist’s tobacco shops are
essentially the same in terms of layout.
“Bangor occupies about 1,000 square
feet, Waterville [called VB Vapors &
Tobacco] is about 1,300 square feet, and
both are set up identically to sell tobacco
products along most of the perimeter,”
says Lindquist. His tobacco displays
are for showcasing bagged tobacco,
cigarettes, cigars, and accessories, and
both stores feature a horseshoe-shaped
display case in the center for vaping
products, as well as a wall designated
solely for e-liquids.
Lindquist’s tobacco products include
pipe tobacco from Good Stuff, Criss-
Cross, Golden Harvest and Sparrow,
roll-your-own tobacco kits from Laredo
and 1839, plus cigarettes like Marlboros,
Camels, Cools and Old Gold. He also
carries a smattering of mainstream
premium cigars, including sticks
from Rocky Patel and Acid, as well as
machine-rolled cigars from Garcia Vega,
a number of different filtered cigars, and
trench marketing