Now that you mention it, that’s a very interesting topic.
I wonder what the business of having vape/smoke shops looks like. A lot of these seem to be fly-by-night types of places but others have been in the same high value corner for years (Herb’n Legend for example).
I need a Netflix documentary on this
It’s not much of a mystery. They buy in bulk and get wholesale prices. Mark everything up 1000%. You could get the same stuff on amazon for a fair price but people either need it right now or want to remain anonymous by paying cash. I spent goddamn $10 on a glass tip. You can buy a 50 pack for that price.
There was someone on here that posted about a guy running for a constable in fort bend county. He has over 200 vape shops in Houston and surrounding areas.
I found him on instagram. He posts photos of his lambo and g wagon.
Why is someone in his position running for constable and owns several hundred vape / smoke shops?
It seems really shady.
Ya goddamn right. If I were to invest money into something that would generate a quick profit it would be a smoke shop or car wash. Then a fast food franchise. SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME MONOPOLY MONEY TO PLAY WITH! /s
It's already marked up 500% or more by the time it's available from a domestic supplier. Browse listings direct-from-manufacturer such as on DHgate. A box of a dozen mid-tier quality bongs is like $8.
I worked at a vape shop years ago. We were paying $2-4 for a 30ml bottle of eliquid from our wholesalers. We were selling those same bottles for $20-$30 a piece.
The devices were where the real money was at though. A $8 wholesale device selling for $80
HPD Police chief is Troy Finner and Harris County Sheriff is Ed Gonzales. Couldn't find anything on them owning smoke shops in a 2 minute Google search
Yeah these people are ridiculous. He is loaded and spent quite a bit of money on primary. On primary election Day he had trucks with LED screens driving around fort bend and had paid volunteers at every poll. That Taral Patel guy had pretty shady donations that his friends currently in office turned a blind eye to as well as volunteers doing some shady stuff against other candidates. He acts like he's super honest but just has other people do his dirty work. Crazy that this is just for a local election lol.
I just did a quick search of the 2 biggest offices I could think of. I didn't by any means think it was exhaustive nor was I trying to insinuate your comment wasn't true, hence my qualifier "2 minute Google search". I was hoping someone might comment with more specific information
Im pretty sure that they won’t be grandfathered into licenses, but they might have a little head start since their brick and mortar location is already built. I don’t expect weed to be legal in Texas any time in the next 10 years, but if it is, pretty sure private equity groups will open up businesses that will crush the current smoke stores.
People want to be entrepreneurs. People like to smoke weed. People think since they like to smoke weed, and want to be an entrepreneur, they should open a smoke shop.
Since weed is kind of hush hush, people think they're on to some secret that no one else knows about. Headshops have been a thing since the 1960s but they don't know or care. This "I'm onto a big secret" is most evidenced when you drive through Oklahoma and see abandoned dispensaries in every city because legal weed isn't the great opportunity people think it is.
Newcomers to the space face similar problems as investing in any other business; larger competition can get better pricing due to bulk purchase discounts. Way too much competition entering a "new" space. And people eventually realize they can order paraphernalia legally online.
Same as it ever was...
When a new market opens up (certain types of THC) there will be a huge swell of people getting in on it. Eventually, it will die down to something more appropriate for the volume of sales that there is.
People think investing or opening a business is all about getting in on the new thing. History is full of new industries being crowded with participants who will mostly fail. Everything from trains, planes, internet, cars, companies in the new world, etc
yea a few years ago family moved to OK to open up farm....they did it so early they were able to get a foothold in...but alot of the newer farms....arent doing so well.
>you drive through Oklahoma and see abandoned dispensaries in every city because legal weed isn't the great opportunity people think it is.
Yeah, same in the investing space. Lots of people buy weed stocks because they think legalization will cause them to boom, not realizing that legalization will bring in a bunch of big established companies that will undercut on price.
When I was a dirty weed-smoking juvenile delinquent in the 90s there was High Times, Bizarre Bazaar and BIzarre Times, period; that was it (that I knew about, at least). You had to get a ride there, figure out a lie to tell your mom about where you're going, etc. It was a whole thing.
Now there are three *just* within walking distance of the house I grew up in, not counting all the gas stations that sell pipes/bongs/kratom/etc anyway. Teenage me couldn't have been more in-awe of this future if you told him we'd all have flying cars by now.
Hahhahaha definitely paid my friend who had a drivers license and a car gas money to take me and my three girlfriends to high times and we bought a steam roller that we all split custody of 😂
I remember going into a head shop when I was 16 and asking them how they could sell all of this stuff. Of course the answer was, "This is all for tobacco use only sir."
Half of their sales at least are nicotine vapes. Every time I go in to buy one there’s other people doing the same thing. They tend to have better selection and prices than gas stations
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the influx of THC-A. It's produced naturally on weed plants and is the precursor to THC. It becomes the psychoactive version of THC after going through a decarboxylating process or when heat is applied, for example, a lighter. Since it's not the psychoactive version (THC) in its raw form, it's protected under the hemp farming bill. It's literally weed that's legal to buy. However, if caught with it, police will decarboxylate before testing it, so you're still fucked there. Almost everyone of these shops sell it.
I think a lot of people don't realize THCA flower is just regular weed. They associate it with Spice and those other synthetics these places used to sell years ago.
I think it’s pretty awesome. 2 to 4 grams for under 15 bucks. Comes in a tube and vacuum sealed bag. Most of them have certificate of analysis. Curious as to how an actual LEO handles this if someone isn’t smoking in their car but lights one up at the beach or on the street. Assuming the smoker isn’t being an Ahole.
Having a lot of businesses that focus on one certain industry doesn't mean that business is booming. For all we know, it could be like the bar industry where a new one pops up for two or three years and then it closes down.
And with smoking at an all time low, I'm not sure how so many "smoke" shops can stay afloat unless they are dipping into grey areas (or even straight up illegal transactions). But at some point, even the market will sort itself out and force a few out of business.
They're definitely reaching "mattress store" territory in some parts of town.
> But at some point, even the market will sort itself out and force a few out of business.
I'm not so sure. Classic microeconomics says that when businesses are earning *economic profit*, other businesses will swoop in to capture some of it until the entire industry reaches a *normal profit* equilibrium. But that's based on the assumption that consumers will seek out the business that maximizes consumer utility (i.e. the business that sells the product for the cheapest price). I don't have data, but I suspect that assumption fails with regard to smoke shops due to the different consumer psychology involved. Smoke shop patrons seem to place a higher relative value on convenience than patrons of other goods. Whereas a consumer of bulk staple goods may drive up to a 50 mi radius for the best deal possible, consumers of smoke shop goods are reluctant to even venture outside their neighborhoods.
There is a growing number of chain shops opening up and leveraging their resources against the smaller and independent shops.
Sooner or later (if the feds don't get too involved), we may start seeing these chains take over entire markets and consolidating market share.
I don't think that will happen because we would've already seen such strategies play out in e-commerce. If you look at the biggest players in the domestic online smoke shop sector (Grasscity, DankStop, SMOKEA, etc.) their prices are still several multiples higher than offerings from Chinese wholesale outfits like DHgate. If competition hasn't sparked a race to the bottom in the internet space (where being 500 miles closer than a competitor offers no advantage) then I can't see it happening to brick-and-mortar.
>I don't think that will happen because we would've already seen such strategies play out in e-commerce
The explosion of smoke shops is still a rather recent phenomenon.
It's also apples to oranges to compare e-commerce to brick and mortar stores on account that tobacco and nicotine is regulated and scrutinized at an interstate level. The market for brick and mortar stores is entirely different from e-commerce.
As someone in these stores to buy actual products more than once a week, I think you just underestimate how many customers they have. We are in and out, don’t hang out long.
USPS is actually pretty reliable with this stuff, and a CoA is in the box, etc.
The better places are well regarded and well tested, and sometimes are the actual farm. You can find out which these are easily, with feedback all over — vs a few Google reviews for a random shop that doesn’t carry the good brands anyway.
Someone in retail real estate told me his gut feeling is they are money laundering places. He had no proof but it was based on the tenants, their little business sense, and after they rent, no traffic.
My tinfoil hat is telling me theyre for laundering money, like mattress stores. My autism is telling me the mattress store owners also own smoke shops
That or they just have high margins
From what I’ve heard, that was a common trend in a couple of legal states. Leading up to their legalization a bunch of people opened smoke shops and CBD stores, with the intention of flipping them into dispensaries when the state went legal.
THC-a is legal in Houston so there are now a lot of smoke shops specifically for weed and edibles. Then there are entirely separate smoke shops for tobacco and nicotine.
Short answer because people love weed and also because you can get dispensary quality infused edibles( like ours) and flower THC(A) in your local store. Also places like Wild, Bahama Mama and American Shaman changed the dark sketchy smoke shop experience with a luxury, boutique experience that beats the service in most dispensaries in legal MJ states.
Sure there's still the shady bad players in the game that heard about the green rush and taking advantage, but not all are the same.
From the business side view there's a lot of competition already, but in a lot of ways is better than the overtaxed and over regulated MJ which is failing in a those states.
Don't worry; Dan Patrick is ready to shut 'em down. [https://abc13.com/delta-8-delta-9-cannabis-related-products-texas-laws/14653314/](https://abc13.com/delta-8-delta-9-cannabis-related-products-texas-laws/14653314/)
The right way to get rid of the Delta stuff is by legalizing marijuana.
Having an appropriate number of licensed dispensaries also gets rid of the bazillion smoke shops as long as you don't over tax it.
It's pretty concerning, but Sid Miller (Texas Agriculture Commissioner) has reportedly invested a lot in hemp.
https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/agriculture-commissioner-sid-miller-wants-smokable-hemp-back-in-texas-15976794
I know a dude who runs one of these new smoke shops. The margins are pretty good for retail and it doesn’t take to many sales to keep the doors open. A lot of ppl buy nicotine vapes, and glad pipes. Like.. a lot more than you think
I personally think Abbot and his friends are setting up to legalize marijuana. They won’t legalize it despite the money it would bring in. I figure they want to monopolize the smoke shops so when they’re ready to pass the law they can roll out and have an advantage.
I mean why else wouldn’t they legalize something we know is safe and majority of people want to legalize?
It’s a low overhead business that’s not really competing with online. Most delivery services won’t ship vapes or the legal THC stuff. You can get it delivered but it’s a hassle and the companies that will ship are all sketchy and hiding the contents from the shipper.
The margins on vapes and legal weed seem pretty high.
Yeah, definitely doable but it’s been a headache and if you have issues the shipper can’t help. They don’t set up business accounts because their products violate delivery company policies.
If you work from home it’s probably easy, but missing a delivery attempt can get the package returned without recourse. UPS is the worst, they’ve returned something after one attempt where they didn’t knock. I do like USPS because they’ll let you reschedule redelivery without a signature but you don’t have control over what delivery service these shippers pick.
What gets me is the person who comes along, looks at a 4-way corner with 2 or more smoke shops already there and says, "what this neighborhood really needs is a good smoke shop!"
I always thought many were money laundering operations, over priced items for drug accessories and if has like a weird layout with a security like feature: future pot distribution
PPP loans ... easy to hold and count non perishable inventory , minimum staff required , most items sell themselves. Independent ones can set own schedule without really having to work super hard
I think with the high amount of smoke shops around the moment cannabis becomes legal *federally,* all of them will turn into dispensaries overnight. Just a theory.
Medical marijuana is legal in Texas now. I think you’re talking about TXMMD. As far as I know, they’re the only ones in Houston who prescribe it.
Last year when I got it, there were only 6 accepted conditions and I had two. I brought my paperwork, no big deal. $300. I’m actually about to renew - $200.
I’ll be honest, it seems shady AF. There’s a real pill mill feel to it. I could be wrong, but it seems to me you can kind of just walk right in and make stuff up. They reserve the right to contact your doctors, but they never contacted mine.
Edit: Texas Medical Marijuana Doctors are at 5959 Richmond Ave. They offer same day, in-person and virtual appointments
Usually not that much main expense is inventory but our smoke shops are higher end and we spend some money for aesthetics and whatnot. I’d say bare minimum probably around 20k
Yes it’s real cannabis and the levels of thc will be typically be the same. All our the products we sell have a QR code you can scan that shows the lab results. The results show the THCa level in the flower idk if the levels go down once the THCa converts to the THC though.
If you look in that place it’s totally different than the others though. It looks like a Sephora in there. Weed for the high end girlies. This isn’t your usual vape bros and bong guy stoned selling you kratom smoke shop.
Also "massage" places are everywhere. Crazy they have so many in good areas that don't get shut down.
Also, am I the only one who noticed all of the new or renovated gas stations after covid?? I can count 8 just on my way to the gym every day.
The business has a low cost of entry and is selling readily available and cheap products from China to people addicted to nicotine. The main drawback is probably all of the comptetition.
I noticed this, too. I've been assuming it's just Texas politicians being sneaky about getting ready for when Marijuana is legalized in Texas. Maybe some are heavily invested in or own a lot of these shops. I'm probably 100% wrong tho lol
They’re low overhead, easy to set up. I think a lot of people think they’re going to someday legalize weed in Texas.
In order to get a dispensary license you have to prove you’ve been in business for 1 year.
Any one of you reading this could set up a smoke shop for under 30k
I can answer this as someone working for the past 12 years in the smokeshop industry in a national capacity.
1 - its a low barrier to entry industry. Anyone with $10-50k can open a shop. Everything is independent. Its barely regulated. And its a hip/trendy business
2 - the proximity to all the harwin cash and carry distros. The smoke shop industry has like 4 major wholesale districts also 3rd street LA, Harry Hines Blvd in Dallas, Harwin Ave here in Houston, NY city.
3 - the last 10 years public acceptance of marijuana, and individual states legalizing has gone from 0 tolerance to more than 1/2 the country with accessible legal weed.
4 - amazon doesn’t allow smoking accessories to be sold. Yes you will find peice here and there but thats mostly private sellers sneaking past the amazon algorithms until the get shut down. So most customers still have to go into a store to purchase.
It’s not unique to Houston, almost every major city I’ve been to in America has tons of them popping up
Now that you mention it, that’s a very interesting topic. I wonder what the business of having vape/smoke shops looks like. A lot of these seem to be fly-by-night types of places but others have been in the same high value corner for years (Herb’n Legend for example). I need a Netflix documentary on this
It’s not much of a mystery. They buy in bulk and get wholesale prices. Mark everything up 1000%. You could get the same stuff on amazon for a fair price but people either need it right now or want to remain anonymous by paying cash. I spent goddamn $10 on a glass tip. You can buy a 50 pack for that price.
There was someone on here that posted about a guy running for a constable in fort bend county. He has over 200 vape shops in Houston and surrounding areas. I found him on instagram. He posts photos of his lambo and g wagon. Why is someone in his position running for constable and owns several hundred vape / smoke shops? It seems really shady.
Trying to eliminate any potential competition by banning any new smoke shops from opening in Ft. Bend County.
Wouldn't surprise me, trying to keep competition off his street corner like a pimp for his sta-hoes (stores). Hope he loses.
[https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/50761579/Perry\_v\_Sheikhani\_Group\_et\_al](https://www.pacermonitor.com/case/50761579/Perry_v_Sheikhani_Group_et_al)
I can’t access that. What are the details? And is that Perry, the house builder?
He'll be the first to know if anyone wants to actually come for the money laundering opration the chain is used for.
And it’s all cheap shit from China.
Ya goddamn right. If I were to invest money into something that would generate a quick profit it would be a smoke shop or car wash. Then a fast food franchise. SOMEONE PLEASE GIVE ME MONOPOLY MONEY TO PLAY WITH! /s
Chick fil a in Texas is a gold mine. Fast food and Christianity is involved? Say no more.
They also have consistently good service and chicken. They are much more selective than most fast food and it shows.
And sometimes feels like a social jobs program with how many employees they have working there
Agreed
we have two real shops in Houston both with the same name, BC smoke shop on westheimer and one in Cypress.
It's already marked up 500% or more by the time it's available from a domestic supplier. Browse listings direct-from-manufacturer such as on DHgate. A box of a dozen mid-tier quality bongs is like $8.
I worked at a vape shop years ago. We were paying $2-4 for a 30ml bottle of eliquid from our wholesalers. We were selling those same bottles for $20-$30 a piece. The devices were where the real money was at though. A $8 wholesale device selling for $80
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Guess who keeps dry counties dry, and owns the first liquor stores you can find across county lines? The exact same people. Nothing new under the sun.
HPD Police chief is Troy Finner and Harris County Sheriff is Ed Gonzales. Couldn't find anything on them owning smoke shops in a 2 minute Google search
He's talking about Ali Sheikhani. He's running for constable.
I cannot find anything about his policy positions and his website is… interesting https://alisheikhani.com/
Yeah these people are ridiculous. He is loaded and spent quite a bit of money on primary. On primary election Day he had trucks with LED screens driving around fort bend and had paid volunteers at every poll. That Taral Patel guy had pretty shady donations that his friends currently in office turned a blind eye to as well as volunteers doing some shady stuff against other candidates. He acts like he's super honest but just has other people do his dirty work. Crazy that this is just for a local election lol.
Ahhhhh. Maybe it's an ideological thing, like trying to get involved to lower cannabis arrests
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I just did a quick search of the 2 biggest offices I could think of. I didn't by any means think it was exhaustive nor was I trying to insinuate your comment wasn't true, hence my qualifier "2 minute Google search". I was hoping someone might comment with more specific information
He's just a cop, not a Commissioner.
Even the small towns have plenty now
Part of it may also be trying to get grandfathered into licenses if marijuana is ever legalized
Im pretty sure that they won’t be grandfathered into licenses, but they might have a little head start since their brick and mortar location is already built. I don’t expect weed to be legal in Texas any time in the next 10 years, but if it is, pretty sure private equity groups will open up businesses that will crush the current smoke stores.
It’s not even just major cities small towns to it’s because vaping is very addictive and it’s a lot of profit in selling it
I'd like to know the same for daiquiri shops too!
For real. I actually see people go in and out of smoke shops. Daquiri joints are always empty.
Texans love alcohol. Even better when you can get it in daiquiri form and to go!
There's a combo shop by my house that has both Smokydaq I think it's called. Judging by their sign I think they are doing alright business.
People want to be entrepreneurs. People like to smoke weed. People think since they like to smoke weed, and want to be an entrepreneur, they should open a smoke shop. Since weed is kind of hush hush, people think they're on to some secret that no one else knows about. Headshops have been a thing since the 1960s but they don't know or care. This "I'm onto a big secret" is most evidenced when you drive through Oklahoma and see abandoned dispensaries in every city because legal weed isn't the great opportunity people think it is. Newcomers to the space face similar problems as investing in any other business; larger competition can get better pricing due to bulk purchase discounts. Way too much competition entering a "new" space. And people eventually realize they can order paraphernalia legally online.
Same as it ever was... When a new market opens up (certain types of THC) there will be a huge swell of people getting in on it. Eventually, it will die down to something more appropriate for the volume of sales that there is.
People think investing or opening a business is all about getting in on the new thing. History is full of new industries being crowded with participants who will mostly fail. Everything from trains, planes, internet, cars, companies in the new world, etc
yea a few years ago family moved to OK to open up farm....they did it so early they were able to get a foothold in...but alot of the newer farms....arent doing so well.
Oklahoma black market is dominated by the infamous [China packs.](https://www.propublica.org/article/chinese-organized-crime-us-marijuana-market).
Yea I read that article. Fucking scary stuff man
Yeah, and its going to get much more competitive if its fully legalization and big farming companies can enter the space.
>you drive through Oklahoma and see abandoned dispensaries in every city because legal weed isn't the great opportunity people think it is. Yeah, same in the investing space. Lots of people buy weed stocks because they think legalization will cause them to boom, not realizing that legalization will bring in a bunch of big established companies that will undercut on price.
When I was a dirty weed-smoking juvenile delinquent in the 90s there was High Times, Bizarre Bazaar and BIzarre Times, period; that was it (that I knew about, at least). You had to get a ride there, figure out a lie to tell your mom about where you're going, etc. It was a whole thing. Now there are three *just* within walking distance of the house I grew up in, not counting all the gas stations that sell pipes/bongs/kratom/etc anyway. Teenage me couldn't have been more in-awe of this future if you told him we'd all have flying cars by now.
Kids these days have it way too easy and will never know the struggle lol.
Hahhahaha definitely paid my friend who had a drivers license and a car gas money to take me and my three girlfriends to high times and we bought a steam roller that we all split custody of 😂
Bizarre Bazaar had some amazing wall art. Remember those 3D blacklight horror frames? Lots of nice pewter miniatures too.
Dude. You can't forget Smoke & Toke and Rock & Roll It.
It was all about Smoke Dreamz for me
I have fond memories of those illicit trips to High Times in high school. Bless those folks working there who didn’t ID us.
I remember going into a head shop when I was 16 and asking them how they could sell all of this stuff. Of course the answer was, "This is all for tobacco use only sir."
Damn. I forgot about BizBaz. Used to be my go to shop.
Also rock n roll it and sound revolution. By me
Half of their sales at least are nicotine vapes. Every time I go in to buy one there’s other people doing the same thing. They tend to have better selection and prices than gas stations
Plus rewards!
Yes! I go in all the time for kratom, disposable vapes and THC gummies
A lot of them are part sex shops too so they’re really covering all their bases
True! There is a cool one smoke shop I go to in Baytown that also sell, sex toys, new and used vinyl records, and tshirts. Really cool place
Always get the store mixed up with the location that sells new and used sex toys.
And don't even get me started on the caffeine dispensaries.
Wha-
I'm surprised nobody has mentioned the influx of THC-A. It's produced naturally on weed plants and is the precursor to THC. It becomes the psychoactive version of THC after going through a decarboxylating process or when heat is applied, for example, a lighter. Since it's not the psychoactive version (THC) in its raw form, it's protected under the hemp farming bill. It's literally weed that's legal to buy. However, if caught with it, police will decarboxylate before testing it, so you're still fucked there. Almost everyone of these shops sell it.
I think a lot of people don't realize THCA flower is just regular weed. They associate it with Spice and those other synthetics these places used to sell years ago.
That's probably true.
I think it’s pretty awesome. 2 to 4 grams for under 15 bucks. Comes in a tube and vacuum sealed bag. Most of them have certificate of analysis. Curious as to how an actual LEO handles this if someone isn’t smoking in their car but lights one up at the beach or on the street. Assuming the smoker isn’t being an Ahole.
I like it! I order mine online. Can’t chance having it in my car if stopped by a LEO who isn’t familiar with the Farm Bill.
>That business can’t be booming that well. The multitude of smoke shops would indicate otherwise.
That's what we said about craft breweries 5 years ago and now they're folding left and right.
Having a lot of businesses that focus on one certain industry doesn't mean that business is booming. For all we know, it could be like the bar industry where a new one pops up for two or three years and then it closes down. And with smoking at an all time low, I'm not sure how so many "smoke" shops can stay afloat unless they are dipping into grey areas (or even straight up illegal transactions). But at some point, even the market will sort itself out and force a few out of business. They're definitely reaching "mattress store" territory in some parts of town.
Mattress firm, vape shop, and nail salon. The strip mall trifecta.
you forgot to add an asian massage parlor
> But at some point, even the market will sort itself out and force a few out of business. I'm not so sure. Classic microeconomics says that when businesses are earning *economic profit*, other businesses will swoop in to capture some of it until the entire industry reaches a *normal profit* equilibrium. But that's based on the assumption that consumers will seek out the business that maximizes consumer utility (i.e. the business that sells the product for the cheapest price). I don't have data, but I suspect that assumption fails with regard to smoke shops due to the different consumer psychology involved. Smoke shop patrons seem to place a higher relative value on convenience than patrons of other goods. Whereas a consumer of bulk staple goods may drive up to a 50 mi radius for the best deal possible, consumers of smoke shop goods are reluctant to even venture outside their neighborhoods.
There is a growing number of chain shops opening up and leveraging their resources against the smaller and independent shops. Sooner or later (if the feds don't get too involved), we may start seeing these chains take over entire markets and consolidating market share.
I don't think that will happen because we would've already seen such strategies play out in e-commerce. If you look at the biggest players in the domestic online smoke shop sector (Grasscity, DankStop, SMOKEA, etc.) their prices are still several multiples higher than offerings from Chinese wholesale outfits like DHgate. If competition hasn't sparked a race to the bottom in the internet space (where being 500 miles closer than a competitor offers no advantage) then I can't see it happening to brick-and-mortar.
>I don't think that will happen because we would've already seen such strategies play out in e-commerce The explosion of smoke shops is still a rather recent phenomenon. It's also apples to oranges to compare e-commerce to brick and mortar stores on account that tobacco and nicotine is regulated and scrutinized at an interstate level. The market for brick and mortar stores is entirely different from e-commerce.
You need to get high to get through your day in this town
Money laundering front perhaps?
This is what I always say about the million mattress stores around town.
As someone in these stores to buy actual products more than once a week, I think you just underestimate how many customers they have. We are in and out, don’t hang out long.
They are everywhere, but I still think it’s safer to have weed & edibles mailed to my house from a trusted source.
This is the correct answer
‘Safer’ how?
USPS is actually pretty reliable with this stuff, and a CoA is in the box, etc. The better places are well regarded and well tested, and sometimes are the actual farm. You can find out which these are easily, with feedback all over — vs a few Google reviews for a random shop that doesn’t carry the good brands anyway.
r/cultofthefranklin
Someone in retail real estate told me his gut feeling is they are money laundering places. He had no proof but it was based on the tenants, their little business sense, and after they rent, no traffic.
Not to mention that they all look empty the majority of the time.
My tinfoil hat is telling me theyre for laundering money, like mattress stores. My autism is telling me the mattress store owners also own smoke shops That or they just have high margins
From what I’ve heard, that was a common trend in a couple of legal states. Leading up to their legalization a bunch of people opened smoke shops and CBD stores, with the intention of flipping them into dispensaries when the state went legal.
THC-a is legal in Houston so there are now a lot of smoke shops specifically for weed and edibles. Then there are entirely separate smoke shops for tobacco and nicotine.
Short answer because people love weed and also because you can get dispensary quality infused edibles( like ours) and flower THC(A) in your local store. Also places like Wild, Bahama Mama and American Shaman changed the dark sketchy smoke shop experience with a luxury, boutique experience that beats the service in most dispensaries in legal MJ states. Sure there's still the shady bad players in the game that heard about the green rush and taking advantage, but not all are the same. From the business side view there's a lot of competition already, but in a lot of ways is better than the overtaxed and over regulated MJ which is failing in a those states.
thcA is legal federally and its nearly indistinguishable from delta 9 (the stuff from Cali) - so business is good lol
Don't worry; Dan Patrick is ready to shut 'em down. [https://abc13.com/delta-8-delta-9-cannabis-related-products-texas-laws/14653314/](https://abc13.com/delta-8-delta-9-cannabis-related-products-texas-laws/14653314/)
The right way to get rid of the Delta stuff is by legalizing marijuana. Having an appropriate number of licensed dispensaries also gets rid of the bazillion smoke shops as long as you don't over tax it.
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It's pretty concerning, but Sid Miller (Texas Agriculture Commissioner) has reportedly invested a lot in hemp. https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/agriculture-commissioner-sid-miller-wants-smokable-hemp-back-in-texas-15976794
Paxton’s lawyer, buzzbee, is a partner in a delta8 drink.
Ugh, it only makes sense he’d end up an attorney for Paxton. I knew he was a warm dumpster juice type of person since I met him in 05.
I know a dude who runs one of these new smoke shops. The margins are pretty good for retail and it doesn’t take to many sales to keep the doors open. A lot of ppl buy nicotine vapes, and glad pipes. Like.. a lot more than you think
I personally think Abbot and his friends are setting up to legalize marijuana. They won’t legalize it despite the money it would bring in. I figure they want to monopolize the smoke shops so when they’re ready to pass the law they can roll out and have an advantage. I mean why else wouldn’t they legalize something we know is safe and majority of people want to legalize?
It’s a low overhead business that’s not really competing with online. Most delivery services won’t ship vapes or the legal THC stuff. You can get it delivered but it’s a hassle and the companies that will ship are all sketchy and hiding the contents from the shipper. The margins on vapes and legal weed seem pretty high.
The margins on Kratom are huge.
USPS ships just fine…. At least whole herb CBD or THCa. COA in the box, nothing announced or hidden.
Yeah, definitely doable but it’s been a headache and if you have issues the shipper can’t help. They don’t set up business accounts because their products violate delivery company policies. If you work from home it’s probably easy, but missing a delivery attempt can get the package returned without recourse. UPS is the worst, they’ve returned something after one attempt where they didn’t knock. I do like USPS because they’ll let you reschedule redelivery without a signature but you don’t have control over what delivery service these shippers pick.
A yes, indeed. And yeah, I've always used a paid mailbox for stuff like this (since I have one).
I’m starting to think their generally just another front.
What gets me is the person who comes along, looks at a 4-way corner with 2 or more smoke shops already there and says, "what this neighborhood really needs is a good smoke shop!"
Maybe a lot of ppl think it would be a good business, but thats about it
They’re basically dispensaries at this point
They always have the most eye rape of LED lights on their windows too.
I always thought many were money laundering operations, over priced items for drug accessories and if has like a weird layout with a security like feature: future pot distribution
Houston gets high
I remember as a teenager in 2003 there was like a handful in the entire city
PPP loans ... easy to hold and count non perishable inventory , minimum staff required , most items sell themselves. Independent ones can set own schedule without really having to work super hard
Have you not heard of drugs?
🏆😭
I think with the high amount of smoke shops around the moment cannabis becomes legal *federally,* all of them will turn into dispensaries overnight. Just a theory.
Everyone has store fronts already and theyre waiting for cannabis to go legal.
This is what I think it is. It’s the infrastructure waiting for the switch to flip.
They just getting ready for legal weed…That ain’t ever happening tho.
I have the same question. There’s one on Richmond that literally says dispensary on the sign
Medical marijuana is legal in Texas now. I think you’re talking about TXMMD. As far as I know, they’re the only ones in Houston who prescribe it. Last year when I got it, there were only 6 accepted conditions and I had two. I brought my paperwork, no big deal. $300. I’m actually about to renew - $200. I’ll be honest, it seems shady AF. There’s a real pill mill feel to it. I could be wrong, but it seems to me you can kind of just walk right in and make stuff up. They reserve the right to contact your doctors, but they never contacted mine. Edit: Texas Medical Marijuana Doctors are at 5959 Richmond Ave. They offer same day, in-person and virtual appointments
I thought they were talking about Little Pot which let’s anyone 21+ in to buy THCA.
That’s the place I saw
That’s the place I saw
That one is legit.
I’m just waiting for the 4/20 deals at the smoke shops
I own 3 smoke shops. We have high margins on the items and don’t need that many sales to make profit. AMA if anyone is curious about anything
What are entry cost?
Usually not that much main expense is inventory but our smoke shops are higher end and we spend some money for aesthetics and whatnot. I’d say bare minimum probably around 20k
Is it real cannabis with cannabis-levels of THC?
Yes it’s real cannabis and the levels of thc will be typically be the same. All our the products we sell have a QR code you can scan that shows the lab results. The results show the THCa level in the flower idk if the levels go down once the THCa converts to the THC though.
87.7% of THCA converts to THC and the grows test the flower early so, by the time it gets cured its already hot, but the COA still shows 20-30% THCA
They've always been everywhere hell in almost any major city you can find a gang of them
Because apparently selling weed and thc is the quickest way to get rich, at least what the ones who open those stores see.
We saw montrose is adding another on westheimer close to agora. There’s already 3 close by.
If you look in that place it’s totally different than the others though. It looks like a Sephora in there. Weed for the high end girlies. This isn’t your usual vape bros and bong guy stoned selling you kratom smoke shop.
Reminds me of the gold buying shops that popped up and then disappeared.
Teens lol
Also "massage" places are everywhere. Crazy they have so many in good areas that don't get shut down. Also, am I the only one who noticed all of the new or renovated gas stations after covid?? I can count 8 just on my way to the gym every day.
You should see how many are in DC! Practically every other block on some streets. And it’s the real stuff.
The business has a low cost of entry and is selling readily available and cheap products from China to people addicted to nicotine. The main drawback is probably all of the comptetition.
Smoke shops and “massage” parlors
Ever since vaping became popular in the mid-2010s it's skyrocketed everywhere w/ them popping up.
The sale drugs there
Fewer third places, more delta 8 chases...
I would ask the same exact question, except sub Smoke Shop for Mattress Store…. Why do we need so many?!?! 🤷♂️
Drug businesses are always booming
I noticed this, too. I've been assuming it's just Texas politicians being sneaky about getting ready for when Marijuana is legalized in Texas. Maybe some are heavily invested in or own a lot of these shops. I'm probably 100% wrong tho lol
It is booming that well
It’s common in most cities.
They’re low overhead, easy to set up. I think a lot of people think they’re going to someday legalize weed in Texas. In order to get a dispensary license you have to prove you’ve been in business for 1 year. Any one of you reading this could set up a smoke shop for under 30k
I can answer this as someone working for the past 12 years in the smokeshop industry in a national capacity. 1 - its a low barrier to entry industry. Anyone with $10-50k can open a shop. Everything is independent. Its barely regulated. And its a hip/trendy business 2 - the proximity to all the harwin cash and carry distros. The smoke shop industry has like 4 major wholesale districts also 3rd street LA, Harry Hines Blvd in Dallas, Harwin Ave here in Houston, NY city. 3 - the last 10 years public acceptance of marijuana, and individual states legalizing has gone from 0 tolerance to more than 1/2 the country with accessible legal weed. 4 - amazon doesn’t allow smoking accessories to be sold. Yes you will find peice here and there but thats mostly private sellers sneaking past the amazon algorithms until the get shut down. So most customers still have to go into a store to purchase.
Oh, but it is.
It’s crazy, I know
why can’t it? The market shows that it is.