Despite its relatively small size, Uddevalla is one of Sweden's better towns for vejp users. There are two competing specialist e-cigarette shops. Behind the till in the slightly larger of the two - "Ismokeking" - is Fredrik Andersson - a 44-year-old who changed track in life. From smoker's cough, poor health and burnout to not smoking and a newfound interest in running a business.
Uddevalla calls itself the "Heart of Bohuslän" and is the second largest municipality in the area known as Trestad - which also includes Trollhättan and Vänersborg. But Uddevalla is the only one of the towns that can boast a dedicated vejp store. Uddevalla even has two.
Ismokeking is located on the city's main street, Kungsgatan, and among the shelves full of e-juices and vejp products we find the owner Fredrik Andersson.
Started to notice major health deterioration
Or actually the co-owner - as the company Ismokeking, based in Charlottenberg on the Norwegian border, also owns a share in this shop. But it is Fredrik who is the main owner and the one who makes everything go round.
- We are in our ninth year here now. I don't live here myself, but in Tanumshede, and commute. It's a short distance, but it works," says Fredrik.
So why did you choose Uddevalla?
- When I was about to start up, I realised that it had not worked very well in little Tanum. Uddevalla suited me well and was about as far as I could imagine driving per day.
To get to that point, when Fredrik Andersson decided to take a new path in life, let's back up the tape for a moment. Having smoked since his early teens, he began to notice significant health deterioration.
- I slipped into vejp for entirely personal reasons at first. I had to quit smoking and had tried the classic stuff that never works. But eventually I ended up at an Ismokeking shop in Svinesund, right on the Norwegian border, which existed at the time. I managed to find it and bought these old cigalikes that were available then. Where you screw on a little thing that actually tasted terrible. And you had to have a hundred of them with you - but that was the only thing that worked in the end.
Skralt vejp offer 2014
He was also between jobs at the time and on sick leave after burning out at his previous job with Tele2 in Fredrikstad. Life had simply come together for a much-needed fresh start.
- "I was quite keen to start my own business, and why not start with something you're interested in," Fredrik asks rhetorically.
In 2014, vejp stores weren't exactly big business in Sweden, but Fredrik had a look around at what was available.
- There were quite a few, but I talked a bit with those who were there and looked for opportunities for cooperation and so on. So then I landed on this quite simply.
The colds disappeared
The personal leap from cigarettes and tar to vejp and vapour took care of failing physical health - and becoming a shop owner in the same field took care of sick leave and burnout.
- That smoking cough when you woke up in the morning and you felt that your general health was being seriously affected. It made me just have to stop smoking. So when I found vejp, I was almost saved. Those extreme colds that came once a month were suddenly gone. It was such a big thing that happened so quickly and so easily, and I'm almost never sick anymore," says Fredrik.
Slightly anxious industry
As far as employment is concerned, in Fredrik's case it was finding that thing that you are actually a bit passionate about that was the medicine. Today, at least some days, he has more to do in concrete terms - but it works fine as it is born out of passion.
- You need to break the pattern when it gets like that. Change track and simply find something else. Being able to organise your day and plan it yourself does a lot. But then you have other headaches as an entrepreneur.
Yes, I thought about it. Seems like a "risky" industry when you don't know what new bans and rules might be waiting around the corner?
- Yes, this fantastic industry with rule changes across the board can be quite anxiety-provoking. It's precisely the fact that there can be a slightly vaguely worded rule and then it's interpreted one way for a while and then suddenly we start interpreting it this way instead. It can vary from person to person how something should be. So it's a bit frustrating and anxiety-provoking sometimes," says Fredrik.
Everything can change in six months
He says Sweden has done reasonably well so far, compared to neighbouring countries and others. "But it was very close to a flavour ban being introduced here as well, and no one in the industry knows what to expect.
- It could come in six months, or two. We're deciding this now. But you have to assume that it will be possible to solve it somehow. I don't know how we'd manage here if it had become a flavour ban. In Denmark and Norway, the black market has completely taken over. It's not as if the criminal gangs need more to do...
Big difference between now and then
There are about 35,000 people living in Uddevalla, and an estimated 30-40 of them come in and shop at Ismokeking per day. However, some of them are from the neighbouring towns because, as mentioned, there are no vejp shops there. The average customer is a middle-aged woman or man who has stopped smoking. Sure, there are kids from time to time who buy disposable vejp, but they do not account for a large volume. And those who are too young don't come through the door, says Fredrik.
- When we started in 2015, a huge community grew up around vejp. There were groups and community, and people were more hanging out here. It has become quite a big difference if you look at it today. Now almost everything is one-off so it's a bit different atmosphere overall.
Four employees and one competitor
Fredrik has four employees in the shop. Right now David Berg and Jonathan Wagerland are working and they say that they were regulars who hung out here in the shop from the beginning.
Then there was the fact that Uddevalla, despite its size, has two vejp shops. Light your fire, LYF, which Vejpkollen has visited before, has its shop just a stone's throw away. That this happened was mostly a coincidence, says Fredrik.
- When I was starting up, they were in their garage. We were actually looking at the premises they have before we decided on this one. But we ended up opening at the same time, without anyone knowing that the other was planning the same thing.
But is it rivalry? Or good humour? Or do you know each other at all?
- No, we don't really do that. I think they both thought it was a bit unfortunate that they both had this plan. That they happened to open at the same time.
Several companies and sites
In parallel with the store, Fredrik Andersson also runs the company and the site disposable vape24 and the VapeM8 brand with a wide range of flavours. He is also the one who manages the e-sales via Ismokeking as the store in Charlottenberg is full of border sales, so there is a lot of iron in the fire. He has sometimes toyed with the idea of an additional store, although there are no concrete plans.
- It should not be ruled out, but is not something that is happening now. The towns here are so close together. Many people think we should open in Trollhättan, actually. So it would be if you found some small mini premises. That might have worked.
Five questions for Fredrik Andersson and Ismokeking
1. Who is your typical customer?
- A middle-aged woman or man who has stopped smoking.
2. How big is vejp in Uddevalla?
- It's still pretty big and has been since the beginning.
3. What is your own favourite flavour?
- I'm a pastry lover, but now that I usually use disposable vape, it will of course be VapeM8 Crystal Box Cookie.
4. What would you never put in the tank yourself?
- Since I had free drinks in Kos all those years ago, I can't vejpake anything with melon flavour!
5. What made you start vejpa?
- I needed to quit smoking when my health started to be seriously affected
Vejpkollen visits Swedish Vejpshoppar:
Shop: Ismokeking
City: Uddevalla
Behind the counter: The owner Fredrik Andersson, David Berg and Jonathan Wagerland and two other employees.
Found since: 2015
