3 Reasons Why You Should Support Your Local Smoke Shop

WILL HEADSHOPS AND SMOKE SHOPS FOLLOW THE BLOCKBUSTER VIDEO BUSINESS MODEL & VANISH FOREVER?

We sell the world's best herb grinders directly to the public, but the bulk of our sales go to the coolest headshops and smoke shops around the world. However, as the global economy continues to adopt the Amazon business model, retail smokeshops are feeling the financial impact and we feel their pain.

The "Cost of Convenience" has led to the closure of dozens of these counterculture community centers in recent years so we think it is time to remind everyone of how we all got here.

Virtually every town in America has a shop where adults can go specifically to purchase the items and accessories associated with smoking. Smoking what? Well, for years you couldn't really specify. We - buyers and sellers alike - played a wink-wink game of pretending that the massive "water pipes" for sale in headshops and smoke shops worldwide were "for tobacco use only". 

For decades, these establishments have served a grateful portion of their surrounding communities while simultaneously deflecting the negative societal stigma that hung over headshops for so long, dealing with mad moms, bad cops, and sting ops every step of the way.

If you need a pack of rolling papers, or a cool glass bong or pipe, or parts or accessories for your vaporizer, or a premium weed grinder, your local headshop or smoke shop has had your back, and probably your daddy's back, and maybe even grandpa's too! They have been there for us and that matters.

In today's economy, though, retail buyers go to great lengths to "cut out the middle man" and save a trip to a store, electing instead to google their way to saving a few bucks from an anonymous seller instead of supporting a local brick and mortar business.

Let's look at three reasons why, now more than ever, you should be supporting your local smokeshop or head shop.

1. Spoiler Alert: The "Middle Man" is the Lifeblood of our Economy

Manufacturers build in different price levels for their products to allow for "middle men" at a wholesale distribution level (the men and women who facilitate sales between manufacturer and distro), at the wholesale level (distributors selling to stores), and at the retail or MSRP level (stores selling to retail customers). These levels are staffed and run by real people who, until very recently, could make a good living for a job well done.

Much like when Redbox machines replaced human-staffed Blockbuster Video stores, the resulting boost in convenience for consumers came at a huge cost for Blockbuster - they vanished, along with every other video rental storefront and all the jobs they provided.

We cannot let that happen to our neighborhood smoke shops.

Can you get a 5-gallon bucket of RAW Rolling Papers cheaper per pack online than you can buying a few packs at a time at a headshop? For sure. Are you that lazy or antisocial or frugal that you need to stockpile smoking accessories or save a buck or two online at the expense of losing a local business?

Support your local smoke shop, even if you have to, ya know, put on clothes and leave the house and maybe spend an extra dollar.

2. Smoke Shops Took the Risk So You Could Get the Reward

For decades, headshop and smoke shop owners and employees have faced the wrath of local, state, and federal law enforcement despite being legal businesses and members of their community.

If you are new to the scene you cannot possibly understand what things were like 20-30 years ago (and more) as massive investigations like Operation Pipe Dreams specifically targeted headshop and smokeshops nationwide, leading to dozens of arrests.

Sadly and ironically, now that cannabis is recreationally and/or medically legal in nearly every corner of America, consumers are straying away from their local headshops and smoke shops in favor of a few dollars off from anonymous online retailers.

Out of respect for the risk these shops took for so many years, the least we can do is hit up the headshop anytime we need a new weed grinder, or a pack or papers, or any other counterculture couture that headshops have always had in stock.

3. Your Local Smoke Shop Shops Local

There are certainly varying "grades" of headshops and smokeshops. Some are focused on hookahs, some on heady glass, and some on lottery tickets and long distance calling cards.

The cool smoke shops, though, have their own identity that you can feel just walking through the door, and oftentimes that identity is formed in large part by influence by the local community.

From the way the shop is arranged and decorated, who is working there and what kind of vibes they bring, what sort of products are front and center on the shelves and displays... all of these elements factor into customer experience. 

Cool smokeshops and headshops almost always offer an array of both functional and visual art from local artists like glassblowers, painters, muralists, etc. They often hold community focused events, again honoring artists a lot of the time while building goodwill with their customers and neighbors.

When you only shop online, that vibe is nonexistent. That support for artists and grassroots community building goes away.

When you support your local headshop or smoke shop you support every artist, craftsperson, and manufacturer whose art and products they carry. Even if you don't buy a Phoenician Grinder, you help them keep the lights on so the next customer can. 

There are some things worth fighting for and preserving and the smoke shop culture - and their presence in our communities - is absolutely one of them.