Vaping Equipment At Pawn Shops

I'm Philadelphia for about a week while my wife has surgery. Philadelphia hospitals have a reputation like Philadelphia Lawyers: The best. She had decompression surgery on her neck to relieve pressure on her spinal cord. She got through the surgery ok, and we'll hope for a good recovery. Since hospital visiting hours don't start until noon, I've had the opportunity to visit quite a few shops in and around the city.

The vast majority of the "shops" listed by google are smoke shops that sell tobacco, CBD, sometimes marijuana paraphernalia, and a modest selection of vaping stuff. Most of that is pods and e-liquid. There are a few dedicated to vaping, but again, pods reign supreme. The clerks shrug their shoulders and say, "that's what people want to buy." Two shops had a couple RDAs and RTAs, one had a couple mechanical mods on a dusty shelf, but the clerk knew nothing about them. I tried to tell him about constant contact switches, but all I got was a blank expression on his face. This store was the only one I found that actually had cotton and wire, although he had to go into the back room to bring out an old box of disorganized wire spools, some of which were unspooled. It was all plain wire too. One shop had a small number of premade coils.

A big disappointment was Vapordelphia, an iconic destination store back in the day. All pods, CBD, and e-liquid.

Another disappointment was Preferred Vapor, which did mail order business until the ban. Their web site still shows a vaping lounge and juice bar, which now are closed due to covid. The clerk said that the store probably won't survive much longer.

The other thing that really struck me was that while driving around the city, I did not see one, not one person vaping. Of course most people are walking down the sidewalks wearing masks, and people would probably flip out if you blow a cloud their way.

Over all, it's a pretty sad state of affairs. The used record shops are good though.  

I will be spending the next 3 weeks in Albany, NY for work and was wondering if there are any vape shops that are good to visit?

Here in the Portland, Or area there are quite a few shops so we are kind of spoiled with the quantity and quality of the local shops.  

I've noticed a lot of online vape shops are closing. Brick and mortar shops are still open in my area, so it doesn't seem like they're being affected. I've been getting emails from online shops announcing their closing dates. Do you think it is from all the vaping hysteria going on and flavor bans? Are brick and mortar shops closing in your areas?  

I have called 15-20 vape shops in the southern california, orange county area and not a single one of them has a Vapor Shark rDNA 40 in stock Are they that popular or do shops just not order a lot for their stores. I hate waiting for things to come in the mail and I am willing to drive 20-30 miles to get one but not even that is an option. I wish there weren't a million little shops here and there. We need a big orange county cape shop that carries all the bigger brands and doesn't run out after a day or two after getting them in the shop.

IF ANYONE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA KNOWS WHERE I CAN GET A VAPOR SHARK RDNA 40 PLEASE LET ME KNOW  

I live on the East Coast USA.

Walking down the street, it's hard to notice that vaping is taking off in any meaningful way, because most people that I see still smoke analogs, that includes both young people and older people too. I'm not going to judge them, because it wasn't that long ago that I was still puffing on an analog, and I had failed to see the awesomeness of vaping.

Besides myself, I don't really see too many people vaping outside on sidewalks. I vape outside in the same way that I'd smoke analogs before, so that means practically all of the time, and especially when I'm walking outside. I'm using a thin e-cig, so I don't usually get too many strange looks. I can imagine what kind of looks somebody walking down the sidewalk must get if they're using one of those big, fancy and shiny looking mods to vape with.

Just 6 months ago, there were no vape shops at all in the immediate local area where I live, and now there are 4 that have opened up, all within a very short walking distance of me (10 minutes or less). I'm pretty sure that a lot of non vapers who live here are walking past those stores every day and wondering, what the hell kind of store is that and why are so many of them opening up in this neighborhood?

One of those four stores will probably fail though, because their sign says tobacco/vape store, while the other 3 are dedicated to vaping only. A store can't be both in my opinion. That's a bit of a contradiction and a stupid combination to put it bluntly.

I've been to a couple of the vape stores so far, and in the short time that I was in those stores there were always new customers there who were smokers who were looking to start vaping.

So while I might not notice how popular vaping is by walking on the sidewalks, I think that it's safe to say that vaping is taking off big time with so many small vape shops opening up, and the amount of people vaping will only increase, because there's still a lot of smelly smokers out there who haven't yet given up on their cancer sticks.

And if this is happening where I live, then I bet that similar things are happening all across the country. Every small town should have at least one dedicated vape shop! I like the quick and easy access to all sorts of liquids and brands.

Just today, I was reading online about some premium liquids, and instead of ordering it online (I didn't want to wait), I had acquired a bottle of that exact liquid five minutes later, after sampling it quickly, and I was already at home and vaping it 10 minutes later.  

I am somewhat curious why vape shops don't carry supplies to make your own e juice. I understand they make good money on their juices but for the people that do make their own, the shops are losing that sale all-together. Brew shops carry supplies to make beer and they also make good money; why then, can't vape shops do the same with juice?  

Most of the shops were in the UK or Canada. Does anyone know why this vape kit is not being sold through US retailers?  

OK, so I am an old fart who has depended on the ECF entirely (REOVille, Saloon, several e-liquid threads), and now I am thinking of swinging by the local vape shops to talk hardware.
Obviously, Kayfun (clones) will be discussed. Probably going to bring up Vapefly and Vandy Vape for MTL attachments. Will undoubtably take several bottom feed mods as well.
What else should crusty old farts who have been vaping longer than their store has existed try to convince the vape shop owner (manager) they should at least look into ?
Like it or not, they local B&M's just became out main source for hardware.  

I mean I know why and I am right there with them opposing it. I am glad that many have prevailed (at least for now). When I say "why?" I mean that if I were a vape shop owner, I would be looking to liquidate all of my inventory long before May 2020, because at that point my shop will only have 3 or 4 disposable, non-refillable, over taxed pieces of junk to offer with just 2 flavors (tobacco and possibly menthol).

Are they just ignoring the writing on the wall or are they oblivious?

I mean obviously, for some, the bans came out of nowhere and they did not have time to liquidate, and maybe the legal fees were not over-the-top... but from this point on I would be looking at May if I were them and I would get out while I still can (or I would have already done so by now). As sad as it is, I just know that there are going to be all kinds of fantastic sales in April and early May.

Come May 2020, odds are that there will no longer be any vape shops in the US and it looks like online sales will be a thing of the past with the exception of from out of the country (if they will even ship here) and then you're taking the chance of it being confiscated by the FDA.  

There are so many vape shops in my immediate area now that I can't even keep track of them all.

Even though I still qualify as a newbie vaper, since I've only been vaping for a few months, I now know enough about vaping to know a terrible vape store when I see one.

I was in a vape shop some weeks ago, and what I witnessed shocked me.

This vape store sold the typical premium juices and brands that you'll find everywhere and they also sold some hardware, like clones and mods.

They also had their own brand of cheap, in house juice which they sold and which they would also give out to customers as part of their rewards system, where customers who earn enough points will get a small, free bottle of juice.

While I was in the store looking around, another customer was there and they were getting a free bottle of that in house juice, and they were sampling different flavors, to see which one they wanted.

The sales person asked the customer what nicotine level they wanted, and after the customer told them, I saw the sales person walk towards the middle-back of the shop, and in less than 30 seconds, the juice was mixed and ready to go. The sales person was just eye balling the nicotine content! And it was being mixed right there in the open, in the middle of the shop!

I don't need to be an advanced vaper to know that this is not good at all, and I am shocked that somebody with such bad knowledge would even dare to open their own vape store. Needless to say, a vape store like that probably won't stay in business for long, when there are so many other better options around, with more knowledgeable people working in them.