Philly Plain Dealer

On South Street from Front to Broad Street there are more than fifteen smoke shops that sell an abundance of smoking apparatuses, as well as tobacco products, electronic nicotine devices, hookahs and miscellaneous smoking paraphernalia. For years the smoke shops in the Philly famous corridor have stood out, however the amount of the shops has steadily increased over time to the point that they are, if not already, the most common business to take up vacancies on South Street. 

“As for the effect on commercial corridors, the issue is their saturation. Their garish displays of flashing lights and jarring visuals are attention grabbing at the detriment of eroding the image of the rest of the block, especially as they crop up on every literal corner (the corner being the most visible of stores, and the one people are more likely to use to form a perception for the rest of the block),” said Eugene Desyatnik, President of The Bella Vista Neighborhood Association. 

Eugene Desyatnik has been the Bella Vista Neighborhood Association President for 8 years. His concern, like other residents in the community, is the ease of access for youth to these smoke shops, and the amount of vacancies they’re taking up that are starting to spill over into Bella Vista. 

It is no question that smoke shops have been a major source of the South Street economy, but has the market become too saturated for the community surrounding the corridor? Has their presence now created an additional concern for the nearby neighbors of the Bella Vista Neighborhood?

“After the fire of the nourish restaurant, and the tragic demolition of the historic building there at 7th and South, new construction could have attracted a prime tenant but of course it’s yet another headshop.  Between 9th and 10th street, also on the Bella Vista side, off of south street, we had a juice bar. Across the street was a yoga studio, and the healing arts collective practiced wellness.  We have gone from healthy to unhealthy choices. Gone are the wellness establishments, which thrive when they operate near each other as a virtuous circle of wellness and then here come the predatory head shops,” Said Eugene.

There is almost 1 smoke shop for every block of South Street between South Broad and Front Streets. (Only streets with no shops are from 11-12th street and from 5th to 3rd street.) 

Does the already busy commercial corridor of South Street and surrounding neighborhoods need more of these businesses? In this market of smokeshops there is a range of quality. From the basic and convenient bodega smoke shops (selling food with smoking paraphernalia), to the regular smoke shops that sell (glassware, specific smoking  paraphernalia, nicotine products and snacks), to the high end smoke shops that sell very expensive glassware and paraphernalia. All of these shops are trying to function in the corridor’s economy and are trying to survive given the costs of operations being the highest they’ve ever been. Even with some of the smokeshops having the same owner, stores are very much so in cut throat competition.

“We’ve been here since 2009, we have loyal customers, people that come back and regulars. Cheaper prices and a loyal customer base. When it comes to us personally in this store, business is business. We just want our customers, we don’t mingle with the other stores,  we don’t really know them. We’re here to make a profit,” said Anheed, Manager of a Popular Smoke Shop on South Street.

It is peculiar that these smoke shops have remarkably similar inventory. Zero of the seventeen South Street Smoke Shops carry the vape brand “AirBar.”

 “The Joint” is a rather recently opened high-end smoke shop on the corner of 6th and Bainbridge Streets, right next to South Street.  They opened in the beginning of January 2025 and have run into hurdle after hurdle since opening, and is still dealing with zoning and other variations of issues to smoothly run the business. It seems, it may be easy to acquire the materials to set up shop but there are a lot of needs to be met to actually run the operation.

“These shops are known to sell vapes and gummies to high school kids, since no one ID’s, and this group is most vulnerable. Their brains are still developing. I say all this as a proponent of legalization because then we would have oversight,” said Eugene.

According to the Bella Vista Association President, setting up a quick profit smoke shop is pretty easy.  The product doesn’t spoil, and the margins are decent. “It’s as easy as throwing up some shelves, some flashing lights, spray paint, and you’re good to go.” And because of this, and the market of foot traffic in the area, that is why they’ve been popping up so rapidly over these last few years. Owners of these shops that can manage to get their hands on a vacancy in the corridor or neighborhood nearby see the community as a gold mine.

One of the more pertinent issues is that the “The Joint” cannot legally open without a variance because Zhang Sah, formerly just a martial arts childcare provider, has recently opened a kindergarten class in its space. So it is now considered a school and 500 feet from a school must be maintained for tobacco and headshop sales.  In Eugene’s observation, it seems the lease for “The Joint” was entered without that due diligence, which any prospective proprietor should consider before making an investment to open one of these shops.

Multiple shop owners highlighted the April banning of “flavored vapes” as a sore spot for their industry, one South Street shop owner said he’s on “the last of his inventory.” The manager of a shop on Christian St. explained how tariffs on Chinese imports forced him to pay double for a recent shipment of “Raz Bars” while pointing to price labels with numbers crossed out.

The smoke shop gold rush may be reaching its end between bans federally, legislation locally, and tariffs internationally.