Unjustifiably taboo to some, a complete mystery to others, and something celebrated by fans, “vaping” is a relatively new alternative to smoking standard analog cigarettes. Frank Compston and Kristi Allen are excited to open Blue Sky Vapes for business in Santa Maria on Aug. 9 to provide this service to all interested customers— mostly cigarette smokers.
“I had an inspiration to open this shop because of my son,” Compston said. “He was able to quit chewing because he started vaping and, as a cigar smoker myself, I followed in his footsteps, and it worked for me.”
Allen commented on the importance of selling to newcomers or people who aren’t aware of all the features of vaping: “This is the type of store where people need to talk to us for 20 to 30 minutes and learn about vaping before they can decide.
“We’ve designed our store and built enough knowledge to be able to help people along at their pace, and we want smokers to be educated about this kind of alternative,” she said.
E-cigarettes contain no tobacco, varying doses of nicotine, and expel mostly water vapor, which dissipates almost immediately and doesn’t hang or settle in the air like cigarette smoke generally tends to do. As the Sun spoke to Compston and Allen about their new shop, Compston casually blew clouds of fragrant vapor directly above him—an unusual sight people may find odd at first.
“Some do think it’s strange that I’m inside and puffing vapor like this,” he said. “But vaping is allowed almost anywhere, and many businesses are becoming officially vape friendly.”
Blue Sky Vapes will be selling e-cigarette kits, batteries, atomizers, E liquids, accessories, and much more.
“Here we’re only selling top-of-the-line, name-brand products,” Compston said. “People are going to recognize the brands of the products we sell and we want them to be comfortable in what they’re buying and know that it isn’t just some cheap knock-off.”
Compston mentioned the massive amount of research he compiled along with Allen to create a foundation to open the shop: “At first, I simply found the online system of ordering liquids and parts inconvenient; there were no returns.
“I went down to stores in L.A. and took notes, and I’ve even been to stores in Vegas to see how they do business and how they started up,” he said.
The store is sleek, spacious, and comfortable, and Compston and Allen aren’t even done yet; they dished out a plethora of plans for renovation of both design and function of the shop.
“We’re still adding chairs, a table, filling these display cases, organizing the mixing room in the back; there’s a lot of work to be done in the first few months as we open up,” Compston said.
They also plan to implement a sort of ceremony for current smokers who decide to begin using vaporizers as an alternative to their mainstream habit. Someone at the shop will take a photo as the new customer throws away the last cigarette pack he or she used and, with permission, that pic will be displayed on an upper wall of the store to illustrate the defining moment in a switch to vaping.
“We’re also going to display all the business cards of places who decide to become vape-friendly,” Compston said. “We are eventually going to create a sort of plaque for businesses to display on their doors to show that they are indeed vape-friendly.”
In addition to the nearly 50 flavors it has for sale, Blue Sky Vapes will also be offering custom flavors, and the mixing room behind the counter will create any mixture of liquids and flavors a customer desires to accommodate more personal tastes.
Blue Sky Vapes also has a Facebook page updated regularly. They will be posting photos of new vape users and showing the community that there truly is an alternative to their smoking habits.
“We hope people will come in and check us out,” Compston said. “And we want to thank all our friends and family and supporters who have helped us the last couple months to get things started.”
Contact Blue Sky Vapes at 266-8340. The shop is at 205 E. Main St., Santa Maria, near the corner of Broadway and Main. The store will open Friday, Aug. 9, and will be open five days a week.
Intern Brian Wright compiled this week’s Biz Spotlight. Ideas should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Aug 8-15, 2013.