Tucked into the strip mall across the street from McDonald’s lies Mr. Darcy’s Vapor Emporium, the new e-cigarette shop in Hillsdale.
Barb Bollier, an Angola, Indiana resident, opened the store on Oct. 8, 2014. She owns another store in Angola called “Not Your Grandma’s Vapors.” She said she fell in love with Hillsdale while researching where to open her next store.
“I used to live in Houston, so I know cool,” Bollier said. “This is cool.”
She said after finding out that Hillsdale housed a liberal arts college, she thought of literature and naturally, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.
Her employee, Nathan Harris, said the store sells basic pens as well as supplies to build mods, which are high-powered vaping tools.
Although Mr. Darcy’s has been confused as an illicit drug store, Bollier said vaping isn’t associated with that culture. Most customers are looking to wean themselves off cigarettes.
Harris said many people smoke as a habit — the same way they would chew tobacco or a toothpick.
“This replaces it. It is better because there are fewer ingredients and you can use it in the house,” Harris said.
The vaping liquid is essentially condensed water, consisting of propylene glycol, vegetable glycerin and flavoring. For those who still need nicotine, it can be added to the liquid.
However, for smokers looking to stop using nicotine, Bollier said they can incrementally reduce the amount they put in the liquid over time.
“I started at 10 in March and now I’m down to three,” Bollier said, adding that Harris went from 12 to zero.
Sophomore James Andrew bought a cheaper vape pen about a year ago to wean himself off cigarettes and just recently purchased a better one. He hasn’t visited Mr. Darcy’s yet, but said it will be the next place he goes.
“I use this almost exclusively. I’ve had a couple cigarettes, but this is a pretty effective substitute,” Andrew said. “My favorite flavor so far is peach.”
Additionally, Bollier said vaping is cheaper than conventional smoking. A $6 bottle of vaping liquid lasts as long as a carton, or 10 packs, of cigarettes. Harris added that although the start-up price is higher, vaping pays for itself in a month.
The pens and mods range from $20 to $70, depending on the quality, and Mr. Darcy’s sells a variety of products to fit several price ranges.
Harris said people should be careful about where they buy their vaping liquid, however. Cheap liquid is filled with different, dangerous chemicals to try and make them addictive.
“This is not Chinese nicotine. We use pharmaceutical-grade propylene glycol, RDA approved flavors that are sold to people who bake. We make it as safe as possible,” Harris said.
Bollier added that local ingredients aren’t as dangerous as the public believes. There is formaldehyde in tomatoes and propylene glycol in asthma inhalers and antimicrobials.
Despite efforts to regulate it, vaping has become more mainstream, Harris said, citing the example of Zac Efron vaping in the recent movie, “Neighbors.”
“It’s more the norm,” Harris said. “It’s ok to vape in a movie.”
Recently, Bollier and Harris went to a Vape Fest in Grand Rapids, with more than 600 people.
“You couldn’t see,” Bollier said describing the cloudy atmosphere of the festival.
She encourages students to come down and check out the store and is considering hosting workshops about building mods, as well as vape meets on Fridays. She added that a few local establishments, like El Cerrito restaurant, Cavoni’s Pizza and Grinders, and the bowling alley are vape-friendly.
She said that last semester she sent two of her college-aged employees to campus to vape and see if anyone was interested, but was asked by one of the deans to leave.
Neither dean recalls the event, but Dean of Men Jeffery Rogers said he has approached two students about vaping in the buildings.
“One student was smoking an e-cigarette in Galloway and the fire alarm went off,” Rogers said.
He said that although he doesn’t want students walking around smoking e-cigarettes, they are treated on campus like conventional cigarettes — you can use them out of doors.”
