Vintage Vapors educates, shares the 'sane way to quit smoking'

"The No. 1 goal of our business and our products is to keep people off cigarettes and make customer service a priority," said store owner Steve Dockery, noting that the store's personal vaporizers offer a safer alternative than tobacco products.

"The No. 1 goal of our business and our products is to keep people off cigarettes and make customer service a priority," said store owner Steve Dockery, noting that the store's personal vaporizers offer a safer alternative than tobacco products.

For those unfamiliar with the idea of a personal vaporizer or e-cigarette, Dockery explains the device as a battery with variable voltage surrounded by coils that are intertwined with wicks. The user saturates those wicks with e-liquid, or different levels of nicotine according to customer's desires. When heated, the device produces a vapor that's inhaled.

"The products and liquid that we offer are different than those that you would find in a gas station," Dockery noted. "Ours are quality, lasting devices and we are here to educate and help customers with any questions they might have."

Education concerning the vaporizers and liquids on offer at Vintage is top priority for every staff member, whether or not a customer intends to buy, said Dockery.

"We had a lady come in with pages of notes and she spent over two hours in our store and didn't buy a thing, and that's perfectly fine," he said. "She left here knowing more than she did and we helped present someone with an alternative to smoking cigarettes."

Benefits to using the personal vaporizer in place of traditional cigarettes include no yellowing of teeth, no foul odor as is typically common with cigarettes, no secondhand smoke, and the absence of harmful chemicals that cigarettes create, said Dockery.

"With the e-liquid, you only get four ingredients (propolyne glycol, vegetable glycerin, natural/artificial flavorings and nicotine) in a nicotine strength chosen by the consumer. Those four ingredients can also be found in items that are consumed in our daily diets."

In addition to educating customers on this healthier alternative to smoking, the team at Vintage Vapors works with people based on their budget and needs, he added. "We just want to help them kick the cigarettes and get them coming back," Dockery said. "Cigarettes are a crutch and we want to help people get off them."

Vintage Vapors offers a deal daily through which customers can turn in a pack of cigarettes in exchange for 20 percent off their purchase. Dockery said he and the rest of his staff will do whatever they can to help people break the habit.

The local shop also offers a relaxed lounge complete with free Wi-Fi and a free coffee bar where customers can hang out with each other and learn more about the products.

"We want people to be comfortable and feel like they can come talk about anything here," said Dockery. "Quitting is a huge step, and we even have doctors that refer patients to us now. Since they've stepped it up, we have to step it up too, and we are here to help."