One of Sweden's oldest and largest e-cigarette chains, Vapor Store, has gone to the grave. Now some of the staff are investing in new and smaller vejpshoppar in the same premises.
Vapor Store has long had stores in Karlskrona, Halmstad, Linköping, Landskrona and Helsingborg and several of the cities are now without dedicated vejpshoppar.
But only almost.
Some of the staff took the opportunity to start their own business and are now taking over the stores in Landskrona and (one) in Helsingborg. True Gentlemen's driven by Fredrik Blomberg, former Human Resources and Operations Manager at Vapor Store.
"The most tragic thing is that not all colleagues can stay. Of course, many customers have also reacted negatively to Vapor Store closing down. But during the days when we have been fixing up the store, many have been very positive and happy that we are opening up. It probably went a little faster than we planned, but it's just fun with a challenge" says Fredrik Blomberg to Vejpkollen.
He started True Gentlemen's together with Choman Saeed, former employee of Vapor Store but also known for drip-tip manufacturing under the name Altun vapes. For now, they will have a fairly lean workforce.
"To begin with, we'll go it alone. There may be two extra people who work weekends and do occasional stints. But otherwise, Choman and I will each take a shop." says Fredrik Blomberg.
Tough fall for e-cigarettes
It has been a tough fall for the vejp industry, not only in Sweden but all over the world. Crises in the form of severe lung damage due to dangerous solvents in cannabis pods to extensive campaigns from various health organizations, has shaken businesses. Together with a harsh and often simplistic reporting in the media sales of vejp products have fallen sharply.
Two major companies, Beyond Vape and now Vapor Store, have chosen to close down in a short time.
Despite this, we see Fredrik Blomberg bright future for vejpningen in Sweden.
"It is obviously a tough industry where many companies compete for customers. The market is small in Sweden, compared to other parts of the world. But of course I think it will flourish again. Otherwise, it would be foolish to start up something new"
The truth about lung damage matters
Attitudes towards e-cigarettes can change very quickly. As in the case of lung diseases. It won't last forever, says Fredrik Blomberg.
"I've been in the industry for a while, and know that this comes and goes in waves. I also think that the media blackout is starting to shift a bit now that the truth about the lung damage in the US is coming out"
True Gentlemen's will open in Vapor Store's old premises in Landskrona and Helsingborg this Thursday or Friday.
"Since Beyond Vape closed earlier this fall, there is no vejpshop in Helsingborg right now. So we were in a bit of a hurry. Initially, we will have a fairly similar range as Vapor Store, but in the future that part will change quite a lot. We want to have a niche towards MTL-vejpning" says Fredrik Blomberg.
