At Fatboys Vapors on Chkalov Drive, shelves display hundreds of bottles of flavored nicotine liquids, ready to be squeezed into vape pens, heated to vapor and drawn into lungs.
Manager Mike Roth points to the bottom corner of the shelves on one wall, where about 30 tobacco-flavored e-juice bottles sit on a lower level from the rest.
“All but that would be gone,” he said.
Vapor stores in Washington are under threat of losing a majority of their revenue after Washington Gov. Jay Inslee ordered a ban on all flavored e-juice late last month. Some Vancouver businesses have already closed, but most are freezing their orders of the e-liquids and marking their current stock for large discounts to avoid having unsalable inventory.
The Washington State Board of Health is voting on the ban on Wednesday, and it will likely go into effect the next day. In Oregon, Gov. Kate Brown on Friday ordered a 180-day ban on sale of flavored e-juice.
Shaun D’Sylva, co-owner of Fatboys Vapor, which has nine locations, said revenue has dropped “well over 30 percent” since Gov. Inslee announced the ban.
“Industry-wide that’s very common,” he said.
Between 85 to 90 percent of Fatboys’ e-liquid sales are flavored, said D’Sylva, and that accounts for 55 to 60 percent of total revenue at Fatboys.
“The vast majority we sell is flavored,” he said of e-liquids.
“I’ve had customers buy 10 times what they would normally would buy,” D’Sylva said.
O Vapor, which had six locations in Washington and one in Vancouver, at 221 N.E. 104th Ave., closed Sept. 30 after Inslee’s announcement, according to its social media page.
The day Inslee announced the ban “was a dark day for the Washington vaping community,” according to a statement from O Vapor.
Inslee said that the ban is a way to prevent youths from becoming addicted to the flavored e-juices, which contains various amounts of nicotine. It also is a way to prevent a recent rash of lung diseases in the country that are linked to the liquids.
Roth said that a misconception that’s driving Inslee’s ban is that the flavors are geared toward young customers. From his experience as a manager at Fatboys Vapor, adults are much more interested in vaping flavors. The flavored liquid, and vaping as a whole, has been a way for many smokers to quit — and save money along the way, he said.
“When people make the switch, they want to disassociate with the flavor of tobacco,” he said. “We can supplement our habit with something that doesn’t taste like garbage. When (ex-smokers) want a milkshake, they don’t want it to taste like tobacco — they want it to taste like vanilla, chocolate or strawberry.”
The ban has caused some customers to resort to hoarding the flavored liquid amid the threat of a ban.
Dusty Davis walked into Fatboys Vapors on Friday to visit his girlfriend, who works at the store. Davis said he’s stocked up with about 100 bottles of flavored vapor liquid to get him through the ban. He thinks the ban will be lifted due to public pressure.
“I don’t think it will last long,” he said. “Things like this blow over with time.”
Vaping helped Davis quit smoking after eight years, he said. He also saved money: As a smoker, he would spend about $400 a month on cigarettes, but since switching to vaping, he spends about $70 a month, he said.
The ban also comes about a month after a new tax on vapor liquids that has already caused retailers to raise prices, Roth said. At his store, each bottle of liquid now costs about $2 to $2.50 more, he said.
Hawaiian Vapor was once a three-store vape shop, but since Inslee ordered a ban on flavored liquids, the business has had to respond by closing one store and pulling flavored liquids from the shelves.
“This is a product that helped us quit smoking first,” said Steven Berry, general manager and member of the family ownership. “That’s what got us into the business.”
Now, Berry and the other owners are afraid their stores will close because of the ban.
“With how much we rely on flavors in business, we’re going to have to close,” Berry said. “To have to shut down one of our stores already, it was one of the most heartbreaking things I’ve ever had to do.”
