Local Shops

[EireBrode]

So, there's only one shop around where I live. My question is, how do local shops generally compare in price and selection to online vendors? I'd check it out myself, but it's always closed when I get off work. Edited January 28, 2010 by delSol_si
NHT

[jaytoo3]

For me, they don't. Inflated prices and car salesman attitudes, horrible selections, gotta love NYC. You might want to check the rules about mention NHT references to be careful.

[Bulldog_916]

I've found some of the inflation and some not. Depends on the place. Shops run by native Middle Easterners I've found have lower prices than those run by Americans. It's probably a trend common to Sacramento only, but it's just something I've noticed. I think the markup is just higher because the places they tend to occupy are nicer (meaning higher overhead expenses).

[Hassouni]

I dunno about where everyone else lives, but in the DC suburbs, the Persian and Lebanese stores sell for a lot cheaper. Like 108 boxes of coconara for about $11 or 12, 250gs of al-Fakher for $10, Nakhla DA in the jar for $10, etc. Mind you, in DC proper, it's more expensive, but that's because it's all hipsters and whatnot. Anywhere you have enough Middle Eastern people, you'll get cheaper stuff

[a cliche affair]

I've only found one smoke shop around me that carries a decent shisha selection, not sure on the prices though. I'll check next time i'm in there.

Generally speaking though, I believe you'll find better deals online.

[Jeff_T]

I've found one shop, that was in Tacoma that sells some shisha. They had a lot of AF and hookah-hookah, didn't check those prices and 100g Tangiers. The Tangiers was like $9 for 100g, so not a very good deal. If you are curious or want to check it out, the shop is called the Tinderbox. In my experience it's always best to get stuff online, much better selection and even with shipping it's less expensive.

[no longer welcome]

it's just different, where i live most of the local shops are cheaper on some products than online vendors but their selection is crap......i must admit, i just wholesaled to a local market...that i hesitated to for 1.5 years because they are, in their own words, "price breakers" but I caved in and they are carrying CH coals, I didn't give them any breaks on wholesale pricing but their retails pricing is way lower than mine and everyone else on line....you can email me if you are in OC for the location. with that said, no local shops, almost anywhere carry tangiers products, a full selection of sb, af and nakhla. also, if you are in a different state than where you order from you don't pay sales tax. finally if you choose a well known vendor on this forum you know what you will get. with that said, i understand why you would still want to at least check out your local shop...just to compare.

[Arcane]

i found one shop that sells hookah stuff...basically, just AF, AW, and coconaras...

thinking about giving AW a try now...

[nars2k]

Like John said, its all dependent on location. Where I live the price of tobacco is lower than most vendors but the issue is variety. They do not carry everything and run out of stock fairly quickly, yet it takes them forever to restock.

[Jacob Shock]

[quote name='Arcane' date='29 January 2010 - 02:07 AM' timestamp='1264756077' post='448347']
i found one shop that sells hookah stuff...basically, just AF, AW, and coconaras...

thinking about giving AW a try now...
[/quote]


Youve never had al waha? its actully pretty good IMO.

[Skoozle]

[quote name='Hassouni' date='28 January 2010 - 12:21 PM' timestamp='1264699311' post='448153']
I dunno about where everyone else lives, but in the DC suburbs, the Persian and Lebanese stores sell for a lot cheaper. Like 108 boxes of coconara for about $11 or 12, 250gs of al-Fakher for $10, Nakhla DA in the jar for $10, etc. Mind you, in DC proper, it's more expensive, but that's because it's all hipsters and whatnot. Anywhere you have enough Middle Eastern people, you'll get cheaper stuff
[/quote]
Where are these shops? There is 1 place in Woodbridge that I like but it sounds like I need to expand my horizons.

[boludo]

[quote name='Hassouni' date='28 January 2010 - 12:21 PM' timestamp='1264699311' post='448153']
I dunno about where everyone else lives, but in the DC suburbs, the Persian and Lebanese stores sell for a lot cheaper. Like 108 boxes of coconara for about $11 or 12, 250gs of al-Fakher for $10, Nakhla DA in the jar for $10, etc. Mind you, in DC proper, it's more expensive, but that's because it's all hipsters and whatnot. Anywhere you have enough Middle Eastern people, you'll get cheaper stuff
[/quote]


Very true.

[mushrat]

Not meaning to bash our online vendor friends, but as a local business owner type...buy local if you can.

If you can't find what you need, THEN hit up our fine friends on the net.

[f22a4bandit]

I will never visit my local shop ever again. They used to operate in a very nice fashion, now it's all about the quick dollar. If only I didn't allow myself to fall over and take it....

[mushrat]

ah, well, ya, there is that problem. OK, if you have a DECENT local shop, support the poor schmuck running it. How that for clarification.

[delSol_si]

[quote name='mushrat' date='29 January 2010 - 09:59 AM' timestamp='1264780768' post='448388']
Not meaning to bash our online vendor friends, but as a local business owner type...buy local if you can.

If you can't find what you need, THEN hit up our fine friends on the net.
[/quote]

only things i can get locally are cheap pieces of shit chinese hookahs, 3Ks, cheap shitty bowls, 2-3 flavors of Nakhla (250g), 6-8 flavors of layalina (50g)@3.50, Jewel 50g@2.50, and Soex 50g@ $5. Yes, i found a shop that sells Soex 50g and wants $5 for it.

oh, and i recently found a shop that sells rosetta and HookahHookah for $3.50 for a 50g.

So, my selection and pricing locally is terrible. I refuse to smoke Jewel and Soex. I bought a 50g of the rosetta stuff but am scared to smoke it after smelling it. I bought a 50g of hookahhookah and it smells terrible and looks like big rat turds. i may be willing to give the hookahhookah stuff another try, but buddy bought butterscotch and it actually taste good. And im not a huge fan of Nakhla, ill smoke it, but its not my first choice.

but ya, if there was a decent local shop with decent prices, id buy locally. I am a very impatient person most of the time. i don't like waiting, lol. then again, who does?

[Hassouni]

[quote name='Skoozle' date='29 January 2010 - 08:15 AM' timestamp='1264770950' post='448365']
[quote name='Hassouni' date='28 January 2010 - 12:21 PM' timestamp='1264699311' post='448153']
I dunno about where everyone else lives, but in the DC suburbs, the Persian and Lebanese stores sell for a lot cheaper. Like 108 boxes of coconara for about $11 or 12, 250gs of al-Fakher for $10, Nakhla DA in the jar for $10, etc. Mind you, in DC proper, it's more expensive, but that's because it's all hipsters and whatnot. Anywhere you have enough Middle Eastern people, you'll get cheaper stuff
[/quote]
Where are these shops? There is 1 place in Woodbridge that I like but it sounds like I need to expand my horizons.
[/quote]



Off the top of my head, in McLean, Gourmet Basket (Leb) has cheap cheap Coconaras, in Vienna, Assal (Persian) has a LOT of al-Fakher, Nakhla, and other stuff, also in Vienna, Yas (also Persian) has some stuff...in Tysons Shiraz (Persian) has hookah stuff, in Falls Church, The Lebanese Butcher has $10 AF and Nakhla DA jars, as well as Mu'assal Salloum. Vienna also has a Lebanese place called Al Nakheel, but I can't remember if they have anything. I'm sure there are places around Skyline and Bailey's Crossroads too, given that there's a decent number of nargile cafes there.

[boludo]

[quote name='Hassouni' date='29 January 2010 - 12:48 PM' timestamp='1264787338' post='448404']
[quote name='Skoozle' date='29 January 2010 - 08:15 AM' timestamp='1264770950' post='448365']
[quote name='Hassouni' date='28 January 2010 - 12:21 PM' timestamp='1264699311' post='448153']
I dunno about where everyone else lives, but in the DC suburbs, the Persian and Lebanese stores sell for a lot cheaper. Like 108 boxes of coconara for about $11 or 12, 250gs of al-Fakher for $10, Nakhla DA in the jar for $10, etc. Mind you, in DC proper, it's more expensive, but that's because it's all hipsters and whatnot. Anywhere you have enough Middle Eastern people, you'll get cheaper stuff
[/quote]
Where are these shops? There is 1 place in Woodbridge that I like but it sounds like I need to expand my horizons.
[/quote]



Off the top of my head, in McLean, Gourmet Basket (Leb) has cheap cheap Coconaras, in Vienna, Assal (Persian) has a LOT of al-Fakher, Nakhla, and other stuff, also in Vienna, Yas (also Persian) has some stuff...in Tysons Shiraz (Persian) has hookah stuff, in Falls Church, The Lebanese Butcher has $10 AF and Nakhla DA jars, as well as Mu'assal Salloum. Vienna also has a Lebanese place called Al Nakheel, but I can't remember if they have anything. I'm sure there are places around Skyline and Bailey's Crossroads too, given that there's a decent number of nargile cafes there.


[/quote]


I just to buy Nak in the georgetown shops for $5-6, but I don't know if that the case anymore (I haven't been there in a while since I'm smoking mostly Tangiers). Also, there is a store in Rockville (Rockville pike) that sells SB, AF and Nak. For a very reasonable price (cheaper than online). Tangiers is the only brand I cannot find locally.

[Hassouni]

My experience is the places in DC, like Washington proper, are more expensive. I live in Adams Morgan now and the places here are way more than out in the suburbs. Was that 5-6 bucks for a 50g or 250?

[Skoozle]

[quote name='Hassouni' date='29 January 2010 - 12:48 PM' timestamp='1264787338' post='448404']
[quote name='Skoozle' date='29 January 2010 - 08:15 AM' timestamp='1264770950' post='448365']
[quote name='Hassouni' date='28 January 2010 - 12:21 PM' timestamp='1264699311' post='448153']
I dunno about where everyone else lives, but in the DC suburbs, the Persian and Lebanese stores sell for a lot cheaper. Like 108 boxes of coconara for about $11 or 12, 250gs of al-Fakher for $10, Nakhla DA in the jar for $10, etc. Mind you, in DC proper, it's more expensive, but that's because it's all hipsters and whatnot. Anywhere you have enough Middle Eastern people, you'll get cheaper stuff
[/quote]
Where are these shops? There is 1 place in Woodbridge that I like but it sounds like I need to expand my horizons.
[/quote]



Off the top of my head, in McLean, Gourmet Basket (Leb) has cheap cheap Coconaras, in Vienna, Assal (Persian) has a LOT of al-Fakher, Nakhla, and other stuff, also in Vienna, Yas (also Persian) has some stuff...in Tysons Shiraz (Persian) has hookah stuff, in Falls Church, The Lebanese Butcher has $10 AF and Nakhla DA jars, as well as Mu'assal Salloum. Vienna also has a Lebanese place called Al Nakheel, but I can't remember if they have anything. I'm sure there are places around Skyline and Bailey's Crossroads too, given that there's a decent number of nargile cafes there.
[/quote]
EireBrode - Sorry for thread jacking... Hassouni - That's a solid chunk of info. You are like the google maps of shisa soures. Thanks for your help.

[Venger]

i got it good in Knoxville. One place sells nak for 4.99 250g and af 8.99 250g. box of 3k coals 12.00. then the shop a little closer to me adds about 2-3 dollars on top of the other guys.both have a solid stock of flavors. The cheaper shop is first generation middle east the pricier one is 2nd gen Lebanese.

[fillup]

Living in a college town means that hookah is all over. Although the prices arent always that great. One of the hookah bars has a huge selection of af and sb. I know the sb sells for like $24 a 250g but im not sure about the af. Another store is a middle eastern resturant/storefront. They ustto have af for $9 a 250!!!! That was until they found out about the other stores selling for more and than bumped up their prices to $17. The last store that ill mention is the worst of them all. They sell a lot of "strange things" and even have a huge ass hookah that they are selling for $900. They always overprice everything they sell and only sell pharaoh's and jewls. I believe the jewls sells for like $7 a 50g pack and the pharaohs is $19!!!!!!

I feel like online is the way to go around here. Prices are great and I can get ahold of my beloved coco narna's!

[thatonethere]

All the local shops in my area are shit. They mostly have fantasia (a few flavours are good, but it can be overpriced depending on where you go),King Moasel, Hookah Hookah, and Starbuzz and the selection of hookahs consist of a bunch of really ugly, overpriced chinese pieces of crap. I mean $23.00 for a dusty tub of old Al Waha!?????? GTFOHWTBS!!! I can't find anybody who has even heard of Naklha. If I want good shisha, I'll have to drive 35 to 40 miles to the only good tobacco shop around. I'd rather go online than waste my time and gas money. For that price, I can make a decent sized order with HJ , sit back and wait. It'll get to me in 2 days. Until my local shop starts getting Nak and Tangiers, and price them very well, then I'll bite.

I once paid $25.00 for 200g of Fantasia pink lemonaide shisha. That was before I knew of online vendors, and before I had the knowlege I have now. When I found out how much the stuff really costed, I felt scammed swindled and really pissed off. I still regret that purchase [img]http://www.hookahforum.com/public/style_emoticons/default/wallbash.gif[/img] .

Edited February 2, 2010 by thatonethere

[mushrat]

Damn..these guys make me look GOOD.

Do remember that actual brick and mortar shops have rent that will reflect where they are set up. If they are located on the main drag of a college town, rents going to be higher tan in some side street shopping center. You want convenience, you are going to pay more for it. On the other hand having a crappy selection is inexcusable.

[Therese]

There's only one local shop here that I know of, and while the prices aren't bad for being in a college town, the selection is pretty terrible. I've only seen Layalina shisha and quicklites, and several overpriced hookahs. However, if that's what you're looking for, they've got a 3 for $10 deal on 50g boxes.