Having shopped there in the last few weeks, yes, you can buy some basics there, small pipes and lighters. I didn’t see any of the shops that had anywhere near the variety of a head shop. I was kinda surprised, I expected it to be more department store-ish for all my stoner needs. But I imagine a lot of their customers are either regulars who don’t need accessories, or first-time, um, pot tourists like me, who went there to buy pot and just want the minimum necessary to get pot smoke into lungs.
Also, I didn’t look for dedicated head shops. They’ve been largely zoned/legislated out of existence in a lot of places, and I don’t even know if there were any of them around.
Well as I said, I was in two such shops and I didnt see anyone buying anything and looking at the shop I’d estimate one would need $300 or more a day of sales to pay for rent, labor, and overhead.
But then I’d say more than 3/4 the store was stuff one could buy anywhere else like shirts and hemp items. It was like being a “head shop” was more of a theme and a way to draw in tourists than the actual focus of the store. Come in, look at the bongs, smell the incense, and buy a tshirt.
My son and I went to a motorcycle shop the other day. In 2 hours, we didn’t see anyone buy anything. They probably had 20,000 sq ft in property and $5 million in inventory.
I went to Kroger last night at 12:37. They had 7 guys stocking shelves and 2 people working a register. I bought a tea for 99 cents. I didn’t see anyone else buy anything in the time I was there (I took my time walking around). Passed a 24 hr McDonald’s and Donut shop, didn’t see any cars.
I have a business. I haven’t sold a thing in months. I pay the bills every month.
It’s interesting you note that. In Washington State, there are a fair number of head shops still around in the Seattle area. But as you mentioned, they are far less numerous than places that sell pot supplies as a sideline–everything from cigar stores to corner stores.
As an owner of a head shop, I can tell you that it doesn’t take very many sales to make the same profit as some other stores. Average customer may spend $10-$20 but you only need to sell 1 big waterpipe to make at least a $100 sale. You don’t see as many people buying because these are big purchases compared to some other novelty stores and gift shops. So let’s say you buy one dab rig for $80, then you need torch, butane, tools, a nail, maybe an extra bowl, and by the time you check out it’s $250. Only takes 1 person like that a day to make a head shop work.
That has actually been a significant problem for the FBI, finding IT security people who can pass routine pot tests has limited their pool of applicants dramatically.
It may have just been a made up meme, but for some reason I want to say the CEO of Kaspersky or McAfee doesn’t drug test employees specifically for the reason that they know they can get better coders out people that want to do it and happen to smoke weed rather than hiring the people that are able to pass a piss test.
As for the head shop being empty, another thing the OP has to keep in mind is what time it was. Many of them are open 24 hours a day so not only are the sales spread out over a longer time span, but if people don’t want to be spotted (especially if it’s in a residential neighborhood), they may go late at night.
There’s one by my house and one by the college I went to, there’s nearly always at least one or two cars in the lot or people walking in/out.
Lastly, the Urbanredneck seems to be making the mistake of assuming that his one experience is indicative of every head shop in all the world. Really “I was in a store for a few minutes and no one bought anything” doesn’t mean “no one ever buys anything at that type of store anywhere, ever and they shouldn’t exist”. That’s some serious head shop store denial.
Sort of semi-related: I’ve been to a number of hydroponics stores for basic gardening supplies. I can’t recall there ever being more than one customer other than me, and no one else ever bought anything while I was there. So how do these places stay in business, what with the large stock of hydroponics equipment, lighting fixtures, fertilizers etc. that they carry?
They seem to have managed pretty well to date, and should see an upsurge in profits as pot legalization gains steam.
The transactions they do have tend to be big. I once bought a 600 watt HPS lamp, assorted nutrient solutions, and a charcoal canister filter, and some odds and ends. I spent around $500.
Also, when I buy stuff at a hydroponics shop I browse until the place is empty, then do my transaction. I park a block or two away and haul my purchase to my car. More caution than necessary, I guess, but that’s how I roll.
