A fine tobacco & vape store where the scents are pleasant, the atmosphere is clean and bright, and the staff provides service with a smile.
If you’ve traveled College Road after dark, chances are you’ve seen the Smocala sign — a bright, color-changing neon sign in College Park Plaza, across from Paddock Mall.
This clean, welcoming, high-quality smoke and vape shop recently celebrated its first anniversary. They pride themselves on offering customers an all-in-one-shop for e-cigarettes, e-juice, hookahs, and a wide variety of tobacco products — sold by friendly and knowledgeable staff.
“We get great satisfaction out of spending time with customers and finding out their needs,” says the owner, a native Ocalan who opened the hometown business in November 2016.
Manager Tyler Ming has been at the store since before the doors were opened. He and his staff of six make it a point to greet everyone who comes in the door.
“We have a great group of employees who are always willing to help anybody who comes in the store,” he says. “Our employees know our products and are friendly and willing to help customers — it doesn’t matter if you don’t know what you’re looking for.”
The clean, bright shop features a wide variety of products in well-organized displays.
Vaping devices, or e-cigarettes, and liquid, or e-juice, are the most popular products Smocala sells.
“Vaping is an awesome alternative to cut traditional tobacco out of your life,” Ming says. He explains that in contrast to traditional cigarettes, many of which contain more than 8,000 chemicals, vape has only four ingredients. The popular Naked 100 line, one of their best sellers, features all natural and organic flavoring.
Ming himself quit cigarettes in favor of vape.
“I quit smoking five years ago,” he says. “I’ve stuck with vaping the whole time and I’ve never been happier — I can run, I can breathe, I can smell.”
Ming explains that vaping liquids come in a variety of pleasant scents, with the most popular being fruit or dessert scents, like Hawaiian passionfruit/orange/guava, key lime butter cookie, and rainbow sherbet, but there is no burning or “ashy” smell.
One of the first things you notice walking into Smocala is that is smells good. They carry the full line of Wildberry incense and their clean-burning, natural soy wax candles.
For more traditional tobacco consumers, Smocala offers the most popular brands of cigarettes, as well as more natural, additive- and chemical-free brands like Native Spirit.
Smocala has one of the biggest selections of cigarillos around, including all the popular brands like Swisher, and a variety of limited edition and hard-to-find flavors at competitive prices.
While they carry various gauge cigars, their offerings are limited to two high-quality brands: award-winning Archetype and customer favorite ACID.
Pipe smokers can find a full line of pipe tobacco and a beautiful selection of clean-burning, American-made artisan glass pipes. Smocala carries the highly-sought-after Rooster Apparatus line from artist David Goldstein, who pioneered the crushed-glass percolator technique.
Hookahs in all sizes, shapes and colors are available, along with flavored wet tobacco and all the accessories.
Although it’s a smoke shop, Ming says they have actually helped people quit smoking with the aid of other products.
“We have a customer who’s quit smoking for six months using our nicotine toothpicks,” he says. “If anyone’s looking to move away from tobacco, our staff is very knowledgeable about alternatives.”
Even if you don’t smoke, vape, or use nicotine products, Smocala’s gift and novelty items are among the best. Their large assortment of Zippo lighters includes many hard-to-find Harley Davidson and military designs. Their novelty section includes a fun array of party games, toys, t-shirts and posters.
“It’s a place where everybody can be happy for a little bit,” Ming says.
Smocala
College Park Plaza
3131 SW College Road, Suite 403
352-547-8280
Hours:
Monday – Saturday 9 am – 10 pm, Sunday 11 am – 10 pm
Follow Smocala Smoke & Vape on Facebook and on Instagram @smocala_smoke_and_vape
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