Flashing neon lights read, “VAPE, THC, 24 HOURS.” HD photos show thick clouds partially obscuring a model’s face. These are the modern advertisements of the vape industry, and they cover Hillsborough Street. 

Electronic cigarettes made up a $2.5 billion industry in 2014, only a few years after they were introduced to U.S. markets in 2007. According to Statista, the industry is expected to grow by just under 4% every year until 2028. There are at least six vape store locations on Hillsborough Street.

On the west end of Hillsborough Street is a drive-thru vape shop called Wolf Star Smoker and Vape Shop. Further down, there’s a Smoke Rings, part of a chain. Then, nestled between Stanhope Apartments, Zaxby’s and a pizza shop, there are three vape shops within one hundred square yards: King’s Tobacco and Vape, Good Guy Vape, and MAXX Tobacco and Vape Store. 

Andrew Stricklin is the director of economic development and planning at Live it Up! Hillsborough Street, a nonprofit dedicated to making Hillsborough Street a thriving and vibrant economic corridor.

“We acknowledge that I think we’re pretty saturated,” Stricklin said. “Having a good retail mix is a good goal for us. We want retailers on Hillsborough Street to be successful, and we don’t want any one use to be dominant or repetitive because it just takes away from the vibrancy of the corridor.”

MAXX Tobacco and Vape opened the most recently and is an upscale, shiny new storefront offering all the standard smoke shop goodies: glass, tobacco and, of course, vapes. 

Stricklin said the rising density of smoke shops is due to a slowly changing marketplace adjusting to a post-pandemic economy. 

“I think the market economics of owning any shop are up to the shop owner or the entrepreneur to make it work,” Stricklin said. “If there’s a demand for it, they can try it out. Some of the leases we’ve had are pretty new.” 

Quinn Duleba, a first-year at Wake Tech studying science and engineering, said he thinks the number of vape shops on Hillsborough is excessive. There is nothing in the city ordinances that prohibit or regulate the density of smoke shops. 

“I’m kind of surprised there’s a lot of them,” Duleba said. “I mean, there’s not a need for it. It’s kind of just competition. I wouldn’t put one directly on Hillsborough because it’s so close to the campus but that’s just purely because it’s kind of like a money grab. They’re just feeding off of stressed students, which, it’s legal, but is it ethical? Probably not.”

Directly across from D.H. Hill Jr. Library is Campus Mart, and just past Target is the VIP Smoke Shop.

Along with the many store options, users have a wide variety of vaping choices. They can choose to get a refillable vape, a myriad of disposable vapes or a hybrid between the two with disposable pod vapes. They each offer the same headrush. 

Lilian Barber, a third-year studying media arts and technology, vapes casually. They picked up the habit at work, combating boredom. 

“It seems like it’s catering towards students,” Barber said. “There’s just so many kinds and the vapes are so colorful and fun to look at. It’s kind of like candy; it tastes like candy.”

According to statistics from the journal Tobacco Control, the use of e-cigarettes has risen among young adults over the past couple of years from 4.5% in 2013 to 20.8% in 2020. 

E-cigarette users also pay more in healthcare costs. Users pay on average $2,000 more in healthcare costs than a non-user, which adds up to $15 billion per year in the U.S.

According to a 2017 National Institutes of Health review on the subject, users spent between $10 and $250 a month on vaping. Duleba said users are likely to spend more and more as their addiction increases.

“The more you do it, the more you’re gonna spend, and that’s just gonna kill you and kill your wallet,” Duleba said.

Sitting at Global Coffee in between the High Life and VIP Smoke, Jack Current, a third-year in design studies, gave some alternate ideas for businesses on Hillsborough.

“If it were up to me I would sub one out for like a Taco Bell or something,” Current said. “Having a lot of eating options is better than having a lot of smoking options.”

Barber had similar ideas about food and the smoke shops. They said there’s a lack of essential community services and resources available on Hillsborough Street. 

“I like places like [Global Coffee] because you can sit outside and do work, and it doesn’t have to be on campus,” Barber said. “Maybe a grocery store, little convenience store. [Hillsborough Street] is kind of a food desert.”