Opening day arrives for thousands of UK vape stores

Vape stores in England and Wales are celebrating opening their doors to customers for the first time since January and December respectively.

Dan Greenall, managing director of Oxford Vapours, said “We are so pleased to be able to give the service we are renowned for to our local customers once again. Like many other businesses, despite managing to stay afloat during the past 12 months we have seen a huge drop in aiding smokers on their journey to switching to a less harmful alternatives.”

Unlike many categories, vaping relies on one-to-one personal service for new vapers to learn about how to find the right product for them, Greenall said: “Vaping is personal and guidance is essential to ensure a successful switch attempt. Education through bricks and mortar retail is the best way to help people looking to make a switch to the less harmful alternative.”

The changes mean that more than 2,000 vape stores have now opened their doors but businesses in Scotland must wait until 26 April.

Doug Mutter, director of the VPZ chain of stores said: “We are delighted to have our stores reopen after another lengthy lockdown. From the click and collect services alone, we have already seen a huge number of smokers coming forward looking for advice and guidance on their quit journey.”

“It has been over a year now that smokers have been struggling with getting expert advice and the selection of products they need from specialist retailers. Vaping retailers have been the last remaining service where people can get help and advice on how best to quit smoking, so we are fully expecting a very busy couple of months.

“We are fully committed to achieving a tobacco free country by 2030 and, with our expert staff now able to open back up the stores, we are ready to help any smoker make the switch.”

Retailers said rebuilding their revenue under the updated lockdown restrictions would be made easier by this month’s VApril campaign, which aims to help current smokers make the transition to vape. Dan Greenall at Oxford Vapours said: “This couldn’t have come at a better time for smokers looking to quit with the UKVIA recently launching VApril 2021 – a dedicated educational campaign to help inform adult smokers of the options available to them and to support those wanting to switch on to vaping.”