What is the issue with 'vape shops'?

[SnufkinsSpiritAnimal]

I see it mentioned in threads about declining towns, and whilst I understand that chicken shops, betting shops and such tend to pop up more regularly in downmarket areas, why is a vape shop a signifier of this?

Surely people from all areas and backgrounds might wish to give up smoking cigarettes and use vaping as a way to bridge the gap? Why would it be associated with a 'bad area'?

I must say that currently I live in a town that has sped downhill faster than a bat out of hell, especially since the pandemic, and there's no improvement in sight (rising crime, knives, dereliction and drugs).
But we only have one vape shop, to my knowledge here.

They're not all trashy and horrible. The one near me is lovely. It's run by Ecigwizard and it's really professional. Under 18s aren't allowed in there.

It's not this one in the picture but it is very similar.

More like gangs of kids lining up to buy their bubblegum flavoured fix illegally from people laundering money and happy to sell to any underaged kid.

Any business could do that. Why vapes? Why not clothes or cookware? You don’t even need a retail business if you’re going to forge invoices and receipts. Building, window cleaning or dog walking would do just as well.

My local Nextdoor pages are full of this crap. A local restaurant has had to speak out because people started rumours about it being a front for criminals.

As far as I know, the dodgy way that here-today-gone-tomorrow shops operate is skipping business rates, not money laundering. Some no doubt sell hooky goods, but I doubt that’s vape-related. More likely to be toys, t-shirts and souvenirs.

Vape shops work - as do barber shops, nail bars etc - for money laundering because they make a larger number of small sales, often in cash. It is much easier to launder money through a cash based business than other types - for every £1 you take in the till, you deposit £5 in the bank and claim it's all money from your sales. There are many other ways to launder money but a lot of cash based businesses like this are owned by organised crime gangs. It's quick and easy and cheap.

Exactly @mynameiscalypso its really not difficult is it. And customers happy to pay cash. Plus potential for dodgy goods.
As for clothes and cookware @Rummly people would more than likely not be happy with a cash only approach. And other than on retail parks you dont get shops selling only cookware. The criminals approach is to keep it simple.

I completely agree that nowhere just sells fags, even old school tobacconists would sell lighters, pipes etc.

However it’s not a case that no one cares, but that these places know how to skirt around the law. There was a very good article in the Financial Times a couple of years ago explaining how the American Candy stores work and how the government/council/police have their hands tied.

Why would vape shops and barbers be more cash-based than a newsagent or a mini-mart? Or any service like building, cleaning, gardening or dog walking?

Where I am every shop of every type - inc charity shops - runs on card payment in the main now.

I've not seen services used for money laundering particularly (I study methods of money laundering used by criminal gangs) but yeah, newsagents/cornershops are used too. There are six around the corner from me (all selling vapes now too) and they can't survive on the trade that they have. I keep meaning to investigate them but haven't got round to it yet. I did come across a newsagent that was sending money overseas to Iran to finance terrorist groups.

Same around here. Shop fronts painted in garish pink, selling “American” or “Mexican” candy and vapes. I also very much doubt they’re targeting people who wish to give up smoking.
Plus, they’re on nearly every corner. Seems to be a surprisingly “successful“ business model in an otherwise struggling town.

Vaping is brilliant for helping people give up smoking, but terrible for children.

Vape shops, as people have said, are just another example of criminal activity being carried out openly in this country.

Vapes should only be available to smokers via prescription.

There are many ways for these money laundering shops to wash their money. It’s not just what goes through the til, they also have expensive fixtures and fittings that will be there for a few months before there is a ‘refurb’. This gives another opportunity to launder cash. And then there is the opportunity to deal drugs from the shop too.

Do you study this as an academic or a law enforcer - or both maybe? It sounds fascinating!

Off tangent but what's a 'chicken shop'??

Incorrect. Both my mum & I used them to give up. A few people I know have. That's how they became popular

It’s where chickens go to vape and have their nails done. Very, very dodgy.

(Chicken shops are KFC style shops.)

I’m amazed that so few people knew about the standard money laundering retail outlets - vape shops, nail bars, candy shops, “turkish” barbers. Some will be legitimate but the majority are dodgy. And I suppose having a lot of them in an area suggests that the area is struggling, as the council aren’t fussed who they let shops to. They just want the money.

I live on a Council estate where a lot of houses were bought under the Right to Buy scheme. There is a vape shop in the small parade of shops which has been open exactly a year. Despite going past daily and at different times of the day I have only ever seen one customer in there and she could have been the shop assistant's Mum.

@HauntedbyMagpies you gave up cigarettes and vaping after it?

@D12troop There's lots of tobacconists out there who just sell cigs, cigars and that's about it

Those dodgy looking fried chicken takeaways, where the chicken is bought in so cheaply it’s probably illegal, and the chances of getting ill if you eat it are pretty high

And open 24hrs for maximum laundering potential!

Why do longer hours create more potential for ‘money laundering’? If they’re lying about sales, what does it matter?

Cos you have more transactions in 24 hours than 12

You can always tell a money laundering shop because they seem to stay open despite never having any customers. I regularly walk past a Turkish barber. There are always a couple of employees (young men) sitting outside smoking, and a couple of men inside chatting, but not once have I ever seen anyone having their hair cut. In our small town we have several long-standing legitimate barbers, with a steady stream of customers. So demand is being met. But the Turkish barber stays open, year after year, despite never cutting anyone’s hair.

How would that help? They’re supposedly telling lies about income. Investigators would go through their books, not watch the shop for how long they’re open.