Norwood's 'Vape Daddy' Closes Permanently After Town Bans Flavored Nicotine Products
NORWOOD (CBS) – A Norwood store called "Vape Daddy's" was forced to close its doors permanently after the town banned all flavored vaping and nicotine products.
"It feels counterintuitive to dismantle something that we created," said Stacy Poritzky, as she packed up the store she opened in downtown Norwood four years ago.
A sign outside explains "We could not stop the Norwood flavor ban." The ban did, however, stopped Vape Daddy's.
Its sweet menu of vape flavors made up more than half the store's sales. The list includes "berry belt", "pineapple gummy bear," and even "unicorn milk."
Since the Norwood Board of Health decided to ban flavored vapes and tobacco products, Poritzky said keeping the store open isn't feasible.
"We just felt like, to start off with 60% of our sales gone, was just not a place that we wanted to be," she said.
The store closed exactly a day after President Trump coincidentally proposed a similar ban at the federal level.
Norwood's Public Health Director, Sigalle Reiss, says the town's ban was a reaction to school surveys showing an alarming rate of children vaping.
"I think if we're looking to protect our youth, I think that restricting and banning the flavored product is a good way to do it," Reoss said.
But the owners of Vape Daddy's say they never sold to anyone under 21, and helped countless adults quit cigarettes.
"We can't run our business with our hands tied behind our back," said Poritzky.
There's some irony in the new business moving into the shop next week. It's called Norwood Vape and Smoke.
They'll still sell vapes, but only tobacco flavored. They'll also sell something Vape Daddy's never sold, because it's unhealthy - actual tobacco products.
