In the national conversation, vape shops are often punchlines or villains. But in the data, they are something else: a miraculous small-business success story, The Washington Post reports.
Mom-and-pop vape shops are the fastest-growing retail segment of the past decade, as well as the one with the highest share of employees at small businesses. A quick Google search shows more than 15 in the Baton Rouge area.
But a government ban on flavored vapes and increased regulation could wipe them out and leave an opening for Big Tobacco and big tech to dominate the fast-growing industry, much like what happened with beer producers following Prohibition.
Tobacconists—the broader category that includes vape shops—have lapped every other retail segment since 2009, thanks to an explosion of tiny businesses, Labor Department data show.
Two-thirds of vape-shop workers are employed by the 93% of businesses with fewer than 10 employees—a higher rate than for any other retail segment.
The entire industry has come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks as an unidentified lung illness, thought to be vaping-related, has killed at least 7 people and sickened more than 500.
In response to alarm over those mystery illnesses, as well as to broader concerns about vaping’s growing appeal to high school students, the Trump administration has announced plans to ban all flavored vaping liquids, or juices.
The federal ban may not kick in for months, but the governors of two large states—Michigan and New York—have announced similar bans.
Vape shops are reeling. Customers are racing to stock up on flavored liquids while store owners and employees ponder an uncertain future. Vape juice refills, which e-cigarettes heat to the point of vaporization, make up the bulk of these shops’ businesses, multiple managers said—and their adult customers overwhelmingly prefer flavored options. Read the full story.
