![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/IMG_2682-1024x618.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nTubular Tokes, a smoke shop in the Grand Central District, is under new ownership. The establishment has a complex history, particularly due to its former owner.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Skylar Strickland was not only known for rude behavior towards customers \u2013 some called him the \u201cvape Nazi,\u201d a reference to a famous episode of Seinfeld \u2013 but several arrests for battery.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sheetal Shahabuddin and her sister, Shilpa Mawani are ready to give the store a new beginning. It is now known as Hits & Munchies. They acquired the business at 2428 Central Avenue Dec. 15.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever happened in the past, we have to leave it in the past and we need to move forward,\u201d Shahabuddin said. \u201cWe\u2019re not tolerating disrespect any more.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sisters own other smoke shops in Tampa. When they found out Strickland was selling his business, they saw an opportunity to enter the St. Petersburg market.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shahabuddin and Mawani were attracted to the \u201curban\u201d aspect of the city. After doing research on the area, they decided it was the right business decision.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The store is 1980s-inspired and features decorations such as neon signs. This theme will remain, she added. They are planning to give the shop a \u201cfresh look\u201d and reorganize it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Remodeling is still underway.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The 1980s theme of Hits & Munchies will remain, according to new co-owner Sheetal Shahabuddin.<\/p>\n
Prices will not change, Shahabuddin said. Additionally, the sisters will continue the store\u2019s loyalty program.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Strickland\u2019s reputation had consequences, she added. Customers chose to shop at other stores. In the past few weeks since taking ownership, she has already noticed a change.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re getting back some of those customers who boycotted him,\u201d Shahabuddin explained. \u201cWe\u2019re already seeing people coming in saying \u2018I stopped coming to this store because of Skylar.\u2019\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Additionally, she said, some of Strickland\u2019s employees were known for rude interactions as well. Shahabuddin and Mawani have chosen to keep two previous workers, after speaking with regular customers, and hire two new ones.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll our employees know that we have to be more respectful to customers that are coming in and spending their time and money.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Shahabuddin added that she has had limited interaction with Strickland since taking over the business.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tubular Tokes, a smoke shop in the Grand Central District, is under new ownership. The establishment has a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":108023,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[202,204,203,199,201,200],"class_list":{"0":"post-108022","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-st-petersburg","8":"tag-st-pete","9":"tag-st-pete-headlines","10":"tag-st-pete-news","11":"tag-st-petersburg","12":"tag-st-petersburg-headlines","13":"tag-st-petersburg-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108022","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108022"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108022\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/108023"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108022"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108022"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108022"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}