General Snus in Southern California

[MrSnusNSnuff]

Hey ppl,

"Banning Tobacco," a tobacco shop here in Banning, CA, sells General Snus. It's a mile away from my house. I bought two cans for $6.50. Not a bad price at all.

Good to know even with PACT in effect, I have easy access to General. I'll have to cut back on ordering online (due to the price increase), but at least SM seems to be expanding its operations here.

Now, if only they rolled out Onyx in the US...

[LaZeR]

Whilst that is certainly some positive news in this otherwise uncertain environment we as smokeless tobacco (snus) users face, be aware that neither the new FDA law nor PACT has officially taken hold until the 22nd and 29th of the month respectively. What happens after that concerning pricing and availability, especially the 'pricing' issue even at retail shops is yet to be known. Once the restrictions are in place to make it no longer cost effective for us to order via the internet, we are at the mercy of those places we can obtain our fix.

Is it just an irony or am I being paranoid that I have a stack of big discount coupon's from Copenhagen and Timber Wolf (whatever...) that ALL expire on 6/21/2010?

[Langdell]

What happens after that concerning pricing and availability, especially the 'pricing' issue even at retail shops is yet to be known. Once the restrictions are in place to make it no longer cost effective for us to order via the internet, we are at the mercy of those places we can obtain our fix.

I wouldn't worry too much about retail shop prices going up yet. A big downward pressure on the price is that (unfortunately) there does not yet appear to be a big U.S. consumer demand for snus. I have been delighted to find several local retailers carrying General, but concerned because people at a couple of them have told me it had not been selling well. The upside for those of us already on the snus bandwagon is that no smart retailer would start hiking prices on a product that's already not selling. The downside is that they may stop stocking it if sales don't pick up. In the short term at least, I think we should focus more on spreading the word about Swedish snus and encouraging sales and less on worrying about retail price hikes.

[LaZeR]

I wouldn't worry too much about retail shop prices going up yet. A big downward pressure on the price is that (unfortunately) there does not yet appear to be a big U.S. consumer demand for snus. I have been delighted to find several local retailers carrying General, but concerned because people at a couple of them have told me it had not been selling well. The upside is that no smart retailer would start hiking prices on a product that's already not selling. The downside is that they may stop stocking it if sales don't pick up. In the short term at least, I think we should focus more on spreading the word about Swedish snus and encouraging sales and less on worrying about retail price hikes.

You do have a valid point. My worry as goes with just about anything our US Government gets involved with is I can certainly see a scenario where 'snus' is doomed to fail in America. With the crackdowns, stipulations, and anti-tobacco's hype on smokeless being turned up a notch, I see snus as we know it possibly becoming taxed out and driven well under the common people's radar, thus making it next to impossible to obtain -legally- in the near future.

I hope I'm wrong.

[Langdell]

I share your concerns, LaZer, and also hope we're wrong.

[rustyrat]

"Banning Tobacco," a tobacco shop here in Banning, CA, sells General Snus. It's a mile away from my house. I bought two cans for $6.50. Not a bad price at all.

Are you telling me you picked up two cans for 6.50 total? That's about what I've paid per can here in Palm Desert, about 40 miles east of you. If that's the case, Banning Tobacco will certainly be worth a visit.