Earlier this month, five U.S. senators, led by Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), issued warning letters to 22 major retailers and distributors for the sale of allegedly unauthorized vape products. Other senators involved in the issuing of the letters include Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Richard Blumenthal (D-Ct.) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.). The…
Smoker Friendly Acquires 54 Low Bob’s Stores
Boulder, Colo-based retailer Smoker Friendly has completed the acquisition of Richmond-Master Distributors Inc., adding 54 Low Bob’s stores in Indiana to its existing footprint in the state. Smoker Friendly now operates 80 stores throughout Indiana. “We are very pleased to welcome the Low Bob’s team to the Smoker Friendly family,” said Terry Gallagher Jr., president…
Vape Fights for Footing
The regulatory saga for vape and e-cigarettes just keeps rolling along, leaving convenience stores waiting to operate under clear, concise and consistent rules once and for all. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved fewer than 25 tobacco-flavored e-cigarettes and vaping devices for legal retail sales. By the end of 2023, FDA still hadn’t…
FDA Files Civil Money Penalty Complaints Against 20 Retailers
As the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to crack down on retailers and vape manufacturers, the administration has now filed complaints for civil money penalties (CMPs) against 20 retailers for the sale of Elf Bar e-cigarettes. The FDA previously issued each retailer a warning letter for the sale of unauthorized e-cigarettes. However, the administration’s…
Rolling With a Changing Environment
There is an interesting dynamic affecting the roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco segment for convenience stores. On the one hand, the smoking population continues to shrink, so the customer base that likes to roll their own cigarettes, which is already a niche group, keeps dwindling, too. At the same time, an expanding market for legalized cannabis offers…
Variety Adds Promise to Tobacco Accessories
Globally speaking, the tobacco accessories market is poised for expansion, with a projected compound annual growth rate of 6.5% for the current decade, according to an analysis by Allied Market Research. The projection accounts for large smoking populations worldwide, like Southeast Asia. Research recently published in JAMA, however, shows the American smoking public is contracting…
Cigars React to Market Conditions
Cigars are feeling the lingering heat of inflation. According to Circana, the price of large mass cigars in U.S. convenience stores last year rose by 5.5%, and the price tag of little cigars, such as cigarillos, also climbed by 5%. The cost of premium cigars was on par with a jump of 4.3%. Prices, however,…
Cigarette Sales Ring in at $53 Billion
For quite some time now, c-store retailers have been watching a downward trend in cigarette sales due in part to inflation, as well as customers shifting to other tobacco segments, including vape and smokeless, and in some cases tobacco-free or nicotine-free options. Cigarette unit sales dropped by 6% during 2023, and the price per unit…
Salvation for All ‘Zynners’
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) took to the podium on Jan. 24 to make a major announcement that affected all of America’s youth. Anticipation was building as to what he would say that could help millions of our younger citizens. Would Schumer tell us about how inflation was killing families’ ability to afford college;…
Vuse Menthol Products Receive Permanent Stay of Enforcement by Appeals Court
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has issued a permanent stay of enforcement on the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) premarket tobacco product authorization (PMTA) for Vuse Alto, Vibe and Solo Menthol Pods, reported the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO). During this time, these products — part R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co.’s…