The rise of the dodgy shop

[james2001]

Not entirely on topic, but as vape shops were mentioned in the post, it has me thinking, what's going to happen to them? By the end of the year they're going to find 95%+ of their products banned, and what remains put in plain packaging and behind the counter, I'm guessing it won't be a viable business model any more and they're going to vanish from high streets as quickly as they arrived.

[Dr Lobster*]

Not entirely on topic, but as vape shops were mentioned in the post, it has me thinking, what's going to happen to them? By the end of the year they're going to find 95%+ of their products banned, and what remains put in plain packaging and behind the counter, I'm guessing it won't be a viable business model any more and they're going to vanish from high streets as quickly as they arrived.

Let’s hope so.

I recently found out that one such shop in my town was raided because they were selling vapes that were stronger and had more “puffs” than allowed. They were also selling them to underage teenagers. It’s a shitty business model that deserves to disappear.

[WillPS]

Not entirely on topic, but as vape shops were mentioned in the post, it has me thinking, what's going to happen to them? By the end of the year they're going to find 95%+ of their products banned, and what remains put in plain packaging and behind the counter, I'm guessing it won't be a viable business model any more and they're going to vanish from high streets as quickly as they arrived.

Already signs of them shutting up shop around here. How much of that is just standard bubble burst stuff and how much is quitting before the shit hits the fan, I couldn't say.

[james2001]

Let’s hope so.

I recently found out that one such shop in my town was raided because they were selling vapes that were stronger and had more “puffs” than allowed. They were also selling them to underage teenagers. It’s a shitty business model that deserves to disappear.

Indeed, it seems ridiculous the whole industry's been allowed to go pretty much unregulated for so long, and it's let things get as bad as it has, this could have been stymied a few years ago before the youth vaping epdemic and littering issue completely exploded, but the government waited until it got out of control before finally doing something (I'm guessing some ministers and Tory donors have £££££ in the vape industry)- and there's likely to be issues with the likes of black market and rising smoking rates that wouldn't have happened if they'd done this a couple of years back. The crying from the vape companies seems so hollow as well, they keep claiming they only want them used as smoking cessation devices, but all the flashy packaging, shop displays, fruity flavours, fancy advertising and using social media influencers to promote them clearly shows otherwise. Look at how the likes of Elf bar and Lost Mary have become hip brands with teenagers, they've deliberately targeted them that way. They're very unethical companies.

Going into several branches of Morrisons, they all now have a big vape display facing the checkouts with a screen with flashy videos playing, and you really wonder how it was allowed to get to this point before something was done (though they seem to be the only one of the big supermarkets doing this, all the others I've been in at least have their vapes behind the tobacco counter with no fancy advertising). You see kids openly using them everywhere, disposed ones littered all over the place (literally saw 5 of them on the same spot on the side of the road earlier), and I'm getting sick of massive clouds in my face nearly everywhere, even in places people shouldn't be vaping, including indoors (admittedly the latter won't entirely go away, but hopefully it will much reduce).

[Henry26]

Let’s hope so.

I recently found out that one such shop in my town was raided because they were selling vapes that were stronger and had more “puffs” than allowed. They were also selling them to underage teenagers. It’s a shitty business model that deserves to disappear.

Indeed, it seems ridiculous the whole industry's been allowed to go pretty much unregulated for so long, and it's let things get as bad as it has, this could have been stymied a few years ago before the youth vaping epdemic and littering issue completely exploded, but the government waited until it got out of control before finally doing something (I'm guessing some ministers and Tory donors have £££££ in the vape industry)- and there's likely to be issues with the likes of black market and rising smoking rates that wouldn't have happened if they'd done this a couple of years back. The crying from the vape companies seems so hollow as well, they keep claiming they only want them used as smoking cessation devices, but all the flashy packaging, shop displays, fruity flavours, fancy advertising and using social media influencers to promote them clearly shows otherwise. Look at how the likes of Elf bar and Lost Mary have become hip brands with teenagers, they've deliberately targeted them that way. They're very unethical companies.

Going into several branches of Morrisons, they all now have a big vape display facing the checkouts with a screen with flashy videos playing, and you really wonder how it was allowed to get to this point before something was done (though they seem to be the only one of the big supermarkets doing this, all the others I've been in at least have their vapes behind the tobacco counter with no fancy advertising). You see kids openly using them everywhere, disposed ones littered all over the place (literally saw 5 of them on the same spot on the side of the road earlier), and I'm getting sick of massive clouds in my face nearly everywhere, even in places people shouldn't be vaping, including indoors (admittedly the latter won't entirely go away, but hopefully it will much reduce).

Absolutely, the lack of regulation in the vaping industry has allowed things to spiral out of control. It's disheartening to see the impact on the youth and the environment, and you've rightly pointed out the delayed intervention by the government. The concerns about potential connections between ministers and industry interests are valid. The flashy marketing and targeting of teens by some vape companies are indeed troubling and speak to their questionable ethics. Your observations about the blatant advertising in supermarkets and the pervasive use of vapes in public spaces are shared by many. Hopefully, these new regulations will bring about positive change and address these pressing issues. It's high time for responsible practices and accountability in the vaping industry.

[Andrew]

One of these shops has opened in my small village

Brash inner city style frontage (that you wonder whether it should need planning permission) selling vapes, American sweets etc, the store is spotless with everything perfectly fronted up, probably as there are never any customers

We already have a franchised convenience store that has its fingers in every pie (the sort where you can barely get to the till because of the hot dogs, blue slushy drinks, ice cream etc), paypoint, post office, collect plus, lottery etc, so there isn’t call for this new shop

Presumably after flooding the inner cities they are now moving out to the suburbs as well.

I haven’t yet noticed if some unusually expensive cars pull up outside

[Steve]

I’m now thinking your small village is my small village if said shop is blue outside and very close to a set of traffic lights 😅

[BBC TV Centre]

What's the score with all of these "Harry Potter" type shops that have sprung up in the West End recently? Are they the new American candy/vape/mobile shop?

[Philip]

Spambots might be getting smarter but even I can tell that’s an AI rewritten post

[james2001]

It's completely pathetic, isn't it? 🤣

[all new Phil]

Spambots might be getting smarter but even I can tell that’s an AI rewritten post

I’ve noticed the same thing too—it’s true that spambots might be getting smarter. It’s clear that’s an AI rewritten post.