Where else can you do this?

[Kyle Weiss]

This is a brief note to say how awesome my Tinder Box is, and how fortunate I am to have such a place in Reno.

I spent the better part of three hours hanging out with the gal Krista that works there (a friend of mine for quite a while), my buddy James (a new pipe initiate) sipping tea, smoking three of my pipes (with some Sextant and Scottish Flake, as well as various samples), and watching (of all things) my favorite Sci Fi series of all time: "Firefly," by request...

...at my local B&M. I really needed a relaxing afternoon, and I don't think I could have much better.

If you have a B&M, go to it. If you do, buy stuff. If you can hang out, do so.

I'm not sure how much longer many of them can last, and I'm not missing out on these unique places.

Feel free to join in post some of your best B&M hangout stories.

8)

 

[George Kaplan]

Umm... yesterday I went in and fetched the owner for an old lady who couldn't get out of her car because of her oxygen tank. Different world, man. No T-boxes left in my state.

 

[kieveryuu]

Side note, I too am a big fan of Firefly.

My local B&M is a small enterprise, a very large cigar selection in a humidor 2 rooms deep with the front of the store having most of accessories and pipe stuff. Unfortunately, that is really about it. Thankfully pipes are selling and the tobacco selection is growing. The one short coming is that there are only two chairs inside, one for the proprietor and one for a customer. Unfortunately the easement that allows smoking inside does not, after new rules enacted in January, extend to the sitting area in front of the store.

That said, the store is a great place and I enjoy going there.

As to a good story, the first time I met the owner, Mr. Sturman, we talked for roughly an hour about various things. Always a good conversation or at the very least a very interesting conversation. Additionally, even though I have only been smoking for a bit less than a year, I am become something of the pipe expert for the store. Tobacco reviews, pipe care, styles, names and techniques. It is interesting to be in a place that is so knowledgable about tobacco, cigars, cigarillos and related and yet to be the pipe guy. Great place.

 

[Rob_In_MO]

I spent the better part of three hours hanging out with the gal Krista that works there (a friend of mine for quite a while),

Once again, Kyle - no pics of the gal. Get with the program, Buddy! 8)


Seriously, the B&M I visit semi-regularly has a few chairs to sit in and usually always has someone or two to smoke and BS with. Cool place, but since I moved north it's about 80-miles away. Occasionally I take the bike and run down to Cape to restock and visit. Wish there was a decent B&M closer to me, but nothing but cigarette and liquor smoke shops around here...

 

[LIPIPE]

Rob: Posting at 2:48 AM? Looks like you're on the job working hard. I'm glad you got with the program. I just chuckle every time I look at your 38 year old face with your pipe. Are you sure you are not 64?

 

[Ocelot55]

I volunteer at my B&M. Its a very small store. We called it the a hole in the wall for so long that when I finally helped them renovate a storage area into a sort of seating lounge, they decided to start a smoking club and called it "The Hole in the Wall Smoking Club." Very quaint little place, but it has become quite the hangout

Eventually the owner turned over his whole estate pipe restorations to me as well as let me display the pipes I make for sale with no commission.

Great place, great company, but extremely small shop.

 

[Rob_In_MO]

Rob: Posting at 2:48 AM? Looks like you're on the job working hard. I'm glad you got with the program. I just chuckle every time I look at your 38 year old face with your pipe. Are you sure you are not 64?

Yeah - it was only 1:48 AM here. Now that I work evenings, I don't get in until 1:00 AM. Sucks, but we make the best of it.

No, Brother - i'm not 64. I just can't push myself to change that avatar yet. One day, Maybe. There is just too much character and personality in that face to change it. Plus being a life-long Star Wars fan makes it even harder too.

Just for you, Brother, i'll post a real pic of me here in a little while - pipe included.

 

[Kyle Weiss]

...now shut up, Rob. :lol:

 

[Buckshot]

The last two times I was in my local B&M (Paul's Pipe Shop in Flint, MI.) there were a couple of fellas in their 20s buying pipes and tobacco and getting first hand instructions on how to load, smoke and enjoy a pipe from the staff at the store. Downtown Flint has slowly become a college town with Flint U of M, Mott College, Baker College, General Motors Tech and now the probability of Michigan State moving part of it's medical school into the downtown Flint area. With it becoming a college town, so also comes the college town atmosphere, including younger men looking for things like a good pipe shop, and Flint is fortunate to still have a shop like Paul's. They have hundreds of pipes in stock, their own blends of tobaccos, lots of tinned blends and many years of experience behind the counter. The upstairs of the building is even a pipe museum! :cheers:

 

[ejames]

I spent the better part of three hours hanging out with the gal Krista that works there (a friend of mine for quite a while),

Once again, Kyle - no pics of the gal. Get with the program, Buddy! 8)


Seriously, the B&M I visit semi-regularly has a few chairs to sit in and usually always has someone or two to smoke and BS with. Cool place, but since I moved north it's about 80-miles away. Occasionally I take the bike and run down to Cape to restock and visit. Wish there was a decent B&M closer to me, but nothing but cigarette and liquor smoke shops around here...

I think I know the place in Cape you are talking about. My sisters stepson buys cigars there. I went there once but it was closed. Gotta go to Cape 6-26 for some tests hope to get to check it out then. It's about a 90 mile drive for me so I don't get to Cape very often.

 

[Rob_In_MO]

I think I know the place in Cape you are talking about. My sisters stepson buys cigars there. I went there once but it was closed. Gotta go to Cape 6-26 for some tests hope to get to check it out then. It's about a 90 mile drive for me so I don't get to Cape very often.

Tobacco Lane & Gifts


Yup, out by the Mall. Actually, in the strip mall to the right of Toys'R'US.

I think their hours are still 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM Mon thru Sat. Not sure about Sunday hours, but afternoons anyway.

Nice little B&M with a very good selection. And it's 80-miles for me, so I know the feeling...

 

[CygnusXII]

Monbla will confirm, We used to have a really sweet shop to hang out in back in the late 80's, early 90's. My best friend owned a shop. He used to work for a Tobacco Lane store in a Mall, and they closed the store. He rented the same location and opened a Tobacco shop of his own. He had all the experience from working at TL, and had all their blend recipes, and bought out a lot of their inventory before they closed, which helped him transition into a full fledged, thriving shop of his own. He and his wife had it set up really nice, for the Customers to sit a spell, and visit. They had a nice church pew, and some winged back chairs, a coffee table, and never ending pot of coffee going. We kept a running poker game going, had pipe smoking contest, vendor visits, carvers came and hob hobnobbed with the Customers, the whole magilla. I hung out there a lot. My Parents had moved to the Carolinas back then and My Buddy and his Wife acted like my surrogate Parents. They knew my Parents and had the authority given by my parents to read me the riot act, whenever I was screwing up. They took really good care of me and were a big part of my life. Sadly my Buddies Wife has passed on, but I still call him almost daily, and we chat a lot. He's helping me with advice and stuff, on getting my Carving Shop up and running, and as I've mentioned on another thread, is selling me a (older) Craftsman / Sears Metal Turning Lathe for $50. The amount he paid for it 20 years ago when he bought it to make pipes himself. He no longer has a Tobacco Store, but he does own an Antique Furniture Refinishing Shop, and does Custom wood working jobs and whatnot. He still sells Estate Pipes on eBay, and collects pipes himself.

I miss those days greatly. Where I live in South Carolina, there are no Shop close. Smokingpipes.com is out towards the Beach. That's 3 or 4 hours from here, and Mcranies is way over in Charlotte NC, and that is at least an hour, not including drive time to get through Charlotte City Traffic. There are no local Tinderboxes or Tobacco Lane Stores around anymore. They've all closed around here.

 

[LIPIPE]

Rob: Please don't change your avatar. It is something special especially since you added the pipe. The look is half chicken shit grin and the other half is delivering the direct message which is "Eat shit and like it". Just PM me with your photo so when we speak on the phone, I'll know what you look like. I plan to ring your phone on Thursday.

 

[monbla256]

Ther are only two "pipe shops" here in town and both are far more cigar oriented than pipe wise. One is a locally owned Tobacco Lane in a new high-end strip mall and it's mainly cigars and "gifts" and DOES NOT allow smoking in the shop The other is a bit further south in another strip mall and agin is cigar (and golf) oriented though they do encourage pipe smokers to come over and visit on Wednesday nights though if a recent move by our city council takes place, they won't be able to allow folks to smoke in the store. Since they like the other shop sell "gifts" a non-smoker who came in to look at the gifts would be subjected to the "second-hand smoke" and that's not good :evil: so the days of the shop as described above by Cygnus are definately over. Welcome to the 21st century

 

[dougc905]

Umm... yesterday I went in and fetched the owner for an old lady who couldn't get out of her car because of her oxygen tank.

Really... There's an example of addiction for you. Oxygen and smoking - mutually exclusive. Perhaps she just doesn't care anymore.

 

[kieveryuu]

A question comes to mind: what hours does your local B&M hold for business?

Sturman's is open M-F 10-6 and Sat. 10-5. Of course nothing here is open really late. Most restaurants close before 9 and many hold these hours even on the weekend.

It sounds like some of you guys hangout in the evening, is this because of special and or club activities or do the stores just cater to an evenings hanging out?

 

[Kyle Weiss]

TB Reno is M-F 10AM - 8PM, Sat 10AM - 7PM and Sunday is 11AM - 6PM, I think. Plenty of time to while away the evening if needed. 8)

 

[Centurian 803]

My favorite B & M, Smoky's in Knoxville is open Mon-Sat 10A-10P and Sun Noon- 8P. No better place to hang out and get your smoke on. I highly recommend it for anyone close enough to stop by.

 

[Brewdude]

I often lament the passing of my local TB. While it was at least a 1/2 hr drive, it was the finest and best thought out venue I've ever visited.

Large area in front, with the glassed in cigar humidors. Took up an entire 40' wall.

Pipe bar in the back by the counter. Great selection of tins and bulk. One could sample anything you wanted as long as the tin was open, and bulks no problem. Learned a lot about what I liked this way.

Plenty of affordable factory pipes on a wall display, and many high end pipes in the counter display. Bought my original 3 Petes here, and got a discount on them for being a regular. Plus my Wiley Rhody, all of which are among my favorite smokers to this day.

One could smoke anywhere in the store. There were tables and chairs out front, but the real magic was in the rear smoking room.

Here, they had overstuffed leather chairs and couches, a great stereo system, big screen TV, and an overhead smoke eater that insured your smoke wouldn't bother anyone.

In addition, they offered espresso, fine wine (Ports and Sherry too), and domestic and imported bottle beers. In fact they sold our Snoqualmie Falls 22oz "bomber" bottles and for several years were our best bottle account!

On top of this they also offered great snacks and home made Panini sammiches. It was like a home away from home, and they hosted events like cigar rolling and beer festivals. Suffice to say I spent much time there.

The SPC (Seattle Pipe Club) also met here which is where I connected with those folks.

The proprietor was a young tobacconist, and the son of a tobacconist. He knew his trade well, despite his age.

Alas the draconian WA state taxes, the no smoking restrictions, and the allure of the internet finally did him in and they closed about 10 years ago.

Pity, that. It was an oasis that will never be duplicated in the socialist state of WA!

:x


No Cheers,

RR

 

[CygnusXII]

Damn, Brewdude... I would have never left the place. It's sounds nicer than my house.