Tobacco and Smoke Shops NAICS 459991

Oct 28, 2025 - Arizona Tobacco Retailers Adjust to New Age Limit

• According to AZPM, Arizona raised the legal age to buy or possess tobacco products from 18 to 21 in September 2025, aligning with federal law passed in 2019. This change impacts tobacco and smoke shops statewide, creating a uniform compliance standard and reducing confusion among retailers. SB 1247 covers all tobacco-related items, including cigarettes, cigars, vape products, and paraphernalia. Retailers face Class 3 misdemeanor charges for selling to underage customers, while possession or distribution by individuals under 21 is now a petty offense. The law includes a military exception, though enforcement remains subject to base regulations. For smoke shops, the update reinforces age-verification protocols and may reduce youth access, particularly to vaping products, which are used by approximately 20% of Arizona high school seniors.
• Consumers are signaling sustained economic unease, an outlook that may challenge discretionary purchases like tobacco products, as both confidence and sentiment indexes remain at multi-year lows amid persistent inflation and job concerns. In September 2025, the Consumer Confidence Index from the Conference Board fell to 94.2, with job optimism down and inflation expectations high. Buying intentions dropped for cars and travel, while interest in homes and smartphones rose. Confidence declined across most age and income groups, especially among households earning $25,000–$35,000 and over $200,000. The consumer sentiment index held at 55 in October 2025 from the previous month, and was down 22% year-over-year, according to the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers. Overall, the data signals cautious consumer sentiment, which could dampen spending heading into the holiday season.

• According to Tobacco Reporter, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is seeking public comment on a tobacco retailer training program requiring several new elements, including written tests for employees selling tobacco. FDA estimates that the proposal will affect 79,700 retailers nationwide, which creates an annual reporting burden of nearly 2 million hours and 191,000 hours for recordkeeping. Elements include written tests for employees selling tobacco products, with refresher training annually and records of training being kept for four years. The FDA noted that about 75% of tobacco retailers already have some kind of age and identification training program in place. According to Grace R. Graham, deputy commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs, some retailers will already meet the new training requirements, some will need to update their training, and some will have to implement training programs for the first time.
• A recent survey by the Premium Cigar Association showed improvement for retailers, with 51% of retailers performing better in 2024 compared to 2023, 29% performing the same, and 20% performing worse. The First Quarter 2025 survey also revealed that 67% of cigar manufacturers said they performed better in 2024 compared to 2023, with 17% of manufacturers performing the same and 17% doing worse. Cigar manufacturers were asked to list their top concerns, which included rising costs, competitors over-discounting products, connecting with retailers on a timely and regular basis, finding quality sales help, and tariffs and complexity of different state taxes. Retailers were asked what they would like to communicate with manufacturers to help sell their products, and the most common answers were controlling moderate price increases and shipping, limiting high-end offerings and creating more economy cigars, better education/communication, fixing supply issues, and focusing on core lines and not “what’s new.”