Coming to the Cherry Hill Plaza on Main Street in New Paltz is the New York Vape Club, an e-cigarette and vape retailer.
Founded and owned by 21-year-old Dylan Zimmermann, the shop opened for business on April 1.
After working for an e-cigarette company in Wappingers Falls and saving up for three years, he decided to open up a shop of his own.
Zimmermann, whose father was a long-term smoker, had been smoking cigarettes since age 13. After five years of smoking, he decided he needed to make a lifestyle change.
He decided to try vaping and he insisted that his father, who averaged two packs of cigarettes a day, try an alternative method to smoking too.
“Nicotine patches are uncomfortable and nicotine gum doesn’t have a good flavor,” Zimmermann said. “Vaping satisfies the same oral fixation as cigarettes and also adds a good flavor.”
He was also inspired to open the shop after seeing growth in both his and his father’s health.
“My dad’s [sense of] smell, taste and [his] overall life have improved,” Zimmermann said. “And I used to have breathing problems, but now I run 5Ks and am never winded.”
Though the long-term effects of smoking vapes and e-cigarettes are unclear, Zimmermann said that the short-term effects of using these products are nothing but positive.
Vape and e-cigarette users can choose their own nicotine dosage, eventually dialing down to zero. This means that they would no longer need the excess amounts of nicotine which they were once addicted to.
Zimmermann said that he does his best to carry all US.-made ingredients and that the New York Vape Club will not be selling Cig-a-like e-cigarettes companies like such as Big Tobacco.
“Those are the kinds of companies we’re trying to get rid of because they’re still hurting people,” Zimmermann said. “Products made in China don’t disclose the ingredients they’re made with or what you’re getting, which sets people up to fail and gets them back on cigarettes.”
He also said that he wants to appeal to the public with his variety of different products and flavors.
The New York Vape Club will stock close to 250 different hardware products such as pen-style starter kits, box-mods and mechanical mods from companies such as Aspire, Kamger Tech and Sigelei.
They will also sell over 50 flavors from a premium brand that he gets produced himself, as well as from known brands such as CRFT and Cosmic Fog.
The New York Vape Club will sell fun flavors such as “Loony Loops,” which Zimmermann said will be reminiscent to eating a bowl of Fruit Loops as well as “Country Cooler,” a strawberry kiwi lemonade flavor.
Zimmermann said that the New York Vape Club is a brand new company and he wanted to bring vape products to a town he knew would appreciate them.
“Hopefully I can take people who already vape and provide them with a comfortable atmosphere,” Zimmermann said. “People are more than welcome to come hangout.”
He said he hopes to educate people about the positive effects of vaping while helping them quit cigarettes in the process.
He plans to have the New York Vape Club open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m., though it may change upon demand.
The New York Vape Club’s website is active at newyorkvapeclub.com as well as on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.