VPZ Bucks COVID Impact
The UK’s leading vape chain is bucking COVID’s impact on the High Street by expanding as it opens a new store in Edinburgh
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by Dave Cross
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Doug Mutter, Director at VPZ, said: “Despite the economic turmoil we are continuing to create jobs in Edinburgh.”
The new store specialising in vaping and alternative tobacco products officially opened its doors on Friday 31st July. The new shop is the first new store from the company since the COVID-19 lockdown began.
The firm, headquartered in Newbridge, Edinburgh has had to adapt to the new way of life following the huge change in the retail landscape.
Director Doug Mutter said, “We are delighted to open our new store at Bruntsfield.
“We are seeing the biggest change in the retail economy in living memory and we as a company have had to be adapt in what we can offer.
“We understand that not all of our customers are able to travel to our stores. The High Street is having to adapt to much smaller footfall.
“That is why we have opened this new store within a more residential area to ensure we can still serve our customers, without requiring them to take excessive travel.
“We believe this maybe a longer-term change to the marketplace and we are investing and committing to serving local communities as best we can.”
Despite the retail sector facing huge challenges the company says it is seeing more smokers making the switch, with record numbers of quit attempts in 2020.
Public Health England estimates that vaping is 95 per cent less harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes. Latest figures released in a recent report from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) show that as vaping increases and smoking declines, there are now around half as many vapers as smokers, with approximately 3.6 million people vaping in the UK compared to 7.2 million smokers in the UK in 2018.
Doug added: “Vaping represents a huge public health opportunity and the market will continue to grow as increasing numbers of smokers recognise its effectiveness in helping people to quit smoking.
“Consumer education is crucial too and our knowledgeable staff are always available with advice and support that helps make it easy for smokers to make the switch and give up cigarettes once and for all.”
The new store can be found at 115 Bruntsfield Place, Edinburgh, EH10 4EQ.
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Dave Cross
Journalist at POTVDave is a freelance writer; with articles on music, motorbikes, football, pop-science, vaping and tobacco harm reduction in Sounds, Melody Maker, UBG, AWoL, Bike, When Saturday Comes, Vape News Magazine, and syndicated across the Johnston Press group. He was published in an anthology of “Greatest Football Writing”, but still believes this was a mistake. Dave contributes sketches to comedy shows and used to co-host a radio sketch show. He’s worked with numerous start-ups to develop content for their websites.
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