Not all adult distributors carry smoking products, but one company that has embraced this sector of the market is Holiday Products. To find out more, AVN talked with Melissa Velasco, described by company head Ken Sahn as the “driving force” behind Holiday’s smoke shop category.
Velasco confirmed that the rising interest in legalization of marijuana has indeed changed attitudes about smoking products—and that can be good for business. “I call it the Green Rush,” she said.
But the company’s decision to carry smoke products has more to do with its desire to differentiate itself with a distinctive product mix. “Holiday has always wanted to be a best seller—a best of the best. We want to find something unique for the customer.”
And according to Velasco, “Holiday really hit it on the head with the smoke category because we didn’t really have much competition.”
Though Holiday doesn’t carry an extensive selection, the stocking choices they’ve made are based on solid research in where the smoke market is saturated and which vendors are the best sources. “We feel like we’ve gotten a good baseline,” Velasco said. “We’ve eased into it, but now we’re at the point where we’re ready to talk about it.”
Some retailers “don’t want to touch it,” especially if they have a lot of competition from smoke shops. But Velasco said other have found that customers will pick up items from a smoke section when “they’re getting all of their risqué stuff for the evening … and now you’ve created a new sale.”
She points out that many items in the smoke category don’t take up a lot of space but still generate additional revenue. And some retailers, she said, “have completely remodeled, taking space from DVD and transformed it into an upscale smoke section.”
What are some of the most popular items? Velasco recommends adding a display of incense. Also, she said, “I’ve been really moving a lot of the detox product. … People are really picking up detox products. That and Toker Pokers [see TokerPoker.com] and Roll-Uh-Bowls [see Roll-Uh-Bowl.com].”
Holiday is continuing to add new items to its inventory. “There are still products that we need to source and items that we need to get.”
But to help their clients get rolling, so to speak, “We did do a little smoke section—a starter kit for retailers [pictured below]. We picked out our own items to create a well-rounded category. … It’s not too much of an investment.” Included in the kit are various pipes—both acrylic and aluminum—some incense, and some miscellaneous items, including rolling papers and rolling machine.
To find out more, visit HolidayProducts.com, contact an account manager at (800) 266-5969, or email [email protected].
