Advertisement

Header Utility Menu

  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • Events

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

  • Login

Virginia Business

Mobile Menu

  • Issues
  • Industries
    • Banking/Finances
    • Business Law
    • Commercial Real Estate
    • Economic Development
    • Education
    • Energy/Green
    • Federal Contracting
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Hotels/Tourism
    • Insurance
    • Ports/Trade
    • Small Business
    • Technology
    • Transportation
  • Regions
    • Central Virginia
    • Eastern Virginia
    • Northern Virginia
    • Roanoke/New River Valley
    • Shenandoah Valley
    • Southern Virginia
    • Southwest Virginia
  • Reports
    • Best Places to Work
    • Business Person of the Year
    • CEO Pay
    • Coronavirus 2020
    • Generous Virginians Project
    • Legal Elite
    • Most Influential Virginians
    • Maritime Guide
    • Site Locator
    • The Big Book
    • Virginia CFO Awards
  • Company News
    • For the Record
    • People
  • Opinion
  • Lists
  • Awards/Events
    • Diversity Leadership Series
    • Vote Now for Women in Leadership
    • Virginia 500
    • Legal Elite
    • CFO Awards
    • Big Book of Lists
    • 100 People To Meet
    • Best Places To Work
  • Virginia 500
    • Read the issue
    • Order a copy
    • Buy an award plaque
    • Nominate execs for 2021

Advertisement

Header Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Home News 16 stores in 60 days

16 stores in 60 days

Avail Vapor owners are rapidly expanding their chain of shops

Published April 29, 2014 by Gary Robertson

James Xu says his company focuses
on cigarette smokers who are trying to
quit. Photo by Mark Rhodes

The traffic is brisk at Avail Vapor, an e-vapor store on West Cary Street in Richmond.

It’s a scene repeated across Virginia and the nation, where e-vapor stores are springing up as a new retail model.

James Xu, an Avail founder, is trying to develop Avail Vapor into a multimillion dollar business. The Cary Street store, which opened last August, was his first location.

By March, he had seven stores across the state, from Virginia Beach to Blacksburg. But he says that’s just the beginning. “We’re going to 16 more within the next 60 days. Then, have at least 60 stores by the end of the year,” Xu says.

He says investors who want to get into the e-vapor business are showing up daily but adds the company can go a long way on the capital it has.

Xu comes from an entrepreneurial background. His family’s business, Richmond-based Evergreen Enterprises, employs 800 people in Virginia. Evergreen makes and distributes a wide variety of products and accessories for gift shops and national chains.  It bought Virginia-based Plow & Hearth in 2010.

So far, most of Xu’s Avail Vapor customers are smokers looking to quit. He says some will dispose of cigarette packs when they come in the store, and others will even stomp on them as a gesture of disgust.

“Almost every single one of our customers is a smoker looking for an alternative,” he says. “We do have every once in a while some young college kids who come here, because they want to look cool.”

Xu says the company has a policy to not sell e-vapor products to anyone under the age of 18. That policy is in line with proposed Food and Drug Administration regulation that would ban sales of electronic cigarettes to minors.

The store sells e-vapor products in a wide range of flavorings ranging from “Belgian Waffles” to “Crispy Pops,” as well as traditional tobacco flavors.

The nicotine content ranges from zero to 2.4 percent of the vapor liquid, and customers can choose from e-vapor models ranging in size from 3 inches to 18 inches. There are even e-vapor pipes.

Like Altria, Xu says his company would embrace FDA regulation. The agency announced its first proposed regulations in late April.

“You might think it’s funny that we welcome regulation,” Xu says. “But without regulation, you’re without a rulebook. And certain bad seeds could ruin the whole industry.”

With more entrepreneurs entering the e-cigarette industry every day, Xu believes that the big players will be the ones that survive.

“So, it is a race — with ourselves — to become a national brand,” Xu says.

Related Stories

No related posts.

Trending

Finance/Insurance: STEPHAN Q. CASSADAY

Finance/Insurance: PAUL B. MANNING

Federal Contractors/Technology: JASON PROVIDAKES

Education: ANNE M. KRESS

Artemis I to launch with help from Va. contractors

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Advertisement

Advertisement

Trending

Finance/Insurance: STEPHAN Q. CASSADAY

Finance/Insurance: PAUL B. MANNING

Federal Contractors/Technology: JASON PROVIDAKES

Education: ANNE M. KRESS

Artemis I to launch with help from Va. contractors

Sponsored Stories

Why is my Less Than Truckload (LTL) freight pricing going up and my service level going down?  

Beyond Juneteenth – How Capital One is Commemorating and Implementing Change

How We Help Your Business Operate Better

Before the Breach: Get Serious About Cyber Resilience

Professionals are Discovering What it Means to Live Uniquely in the Alleghany Highlands of Virginia

Riverside Logistics Celebrates 25th Anniversary!

Girls for a Change Empowers Black Youth for the Future Workforce

The Jackson Ward Collective is equipping Black-owned small businesses with the tools for success

Get Virginia Business directly on your tablet or in your mailbox!

Subscribe to Virginia Business

Advertisement

Advertisement

Footer Primary Menu

  • virginiabusiness.com
  • Subscribe
  • Advertise
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

Footer Secondary Menu

  • Industries
  • Regions
  • Reports
  • Company News
  • Events

Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Sign Up

LinkedIn Facebook Twitter Instagram Get Our App

Privacy Policy Cookie Policy

Footer Utility Menu

Copyright © 2023 Virginia Business. All rights reserved.

Site Maintained by TechArk