DICKSON CITY, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) — A Pennsylvania law is forcing vape retailers to make major changes to their shelves and, for some, rethink their entire business model. One Dickson City shop says it could lose a majority of its inventory under the new regulations and is now racing to adapt before the changes take full effect.
Union Vapers in Dickson City says it expects to lose between 93 and 97 percent of its current vape inventory because of Act 57 of 2025, legislation that changes how nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes can be sold in the Commonwealth.
The law requires every manufacturer of nicotine-containing electronic cigarettes sold at retail in Pennsylvania to be certified by the Pennsylvania Attorney General. The Attorney General’s Office now maintains a directory of approved manufacturers and products, including brand names, product types and flavors. Retailers can only sell products included on that list.
For Union Vapers, the impact is significant.
“With the changes coming in October, we’re losing about 93 to 97% of our inventory,” co-owner Gage Lewis said. “We had over 450 different flavors and strengths included right now. That doesn’t include the different types of devices that you can use or disposable devices. With the changeover, we’re cutting that from 13 full shelves to approximately three or four shelves of product.”
Lewis says the business has no choice but to adapt and finding replacement products isn’t as simple as ordering what’s available.
“We’re going to adapt with what we can and get what products are available that we trust,” Lewis said. “That’s another tricky thing because there’s some companies on there that we know they’re backed by sources that aren’t necessarily going to be best for us or have us as consumers with their best interest. So, we want to make sure that we vet all of our products and make sure that they’re safe, tasty, and helpful and not lying about their ingredients.”
The owners say the timing has added to the pressure. They only received the state’s approved product list within the last few weeks, leaving them with a short window to figure out how to move forward while continuing to pay the lease on their Dickson City storefront.
Instead of closing their doors, they’re shifting their focus.
“Obviously we have no choice but the Pennsylvania changes, but we’re going to lower the amount of product that we have for the vape side and we’re going to expedite this café idea,” Lewis said. “We’re going to open that up to a larger scale than what we were originally planning for it and still sell some of the vape products that are popular and are allowed to be sold here.”
Union Vapers opened three years ago with a vision that went beyond selling vape products. The owners wanted to create what they call a “third space” for adults 21 and older, somewhere people could gather for live music, art and community.
Since opening, they say nearly 250 bands from around the country have performed at the shop.
Now, they hope expanding into a café will allow that community space to continue even as the business changes.
Co-owner Kenneth Stucker says he’s also concerned about how the new restrictions could affect customers trying to quit smoking.
“We don’t rely on a lot of the sketchier alternative products that our competitors rely on to pad out their margins,” Stucker said. “We emphasize harm reduction and quitting both combustible tobacco and eventually vaping.”
He says many customers are already worried about losing access to the products they’ve come to rely on.
“A lot of our customers have expressed anxiety about their favorite products going away. That they might go back to smoke for example and that is something we absolutely don’t want.”
Stucker also worries that businesses following the law could struggle to compete against illegal sellers.
“We’re not going to be able to compete with folks that are out on the black market, not paying the appropriate taxes, selling unauthorized products,” he said. “We are going to have to shut down as Union Vapers and transition into something else.”
After spending years building the business while following state regulations, he says the latest changes are frustrating.
“Our competition is large tobacco firms and smaller less ethically run shops,” Stucker said. “It stings to have gone through such great pains to do everything right and to constantly have regulation come down in such a way that doesn’t take into account the possibility of trying to do the right thing in this business space.”
Lewis says he hopes customers will understand what businesses like his are facing and encourages people to learn more about how decisions in Harrisburg affect small businesses.
“If you’re not happy with the way things are going or these changes that are happening, read up on who’s doing what, what politicians are trying to do what, what person is making what moves and take into consideration how it affects your livelihoods.”
For now, Union Vapers is preparing for a very different future, one with far fewer vape products on its shelves, but hopefully the same sense of community that has defined the business since it opened.