Route 1 has seen an assortment of pizza restaurants filling its store fronts, but the latest joint to roll onto the corridor is a smoke shop.
Mr. Smoke, which replaced T-Mobile and is located between Slices Pizza Co. and Northwest Chinese Food, offers a large selection of hookah, shisha, hand pipes, water pipes, oil rigs and vaporizers, according to the business’ Yelp page. The store also offers incense and a variety of accessories, including ashtrays and tapestries.
Mr. Smoke has locations in Elkridge and Annapolis as well.
The owner, Miki Ben, said he hopes the College Park location will provide the best service and products to residents in the area.
Although Mr. Smoke has been open since the beginning of the month, the city does not have enough information about it to comment on the shop’s impact on the local economy, wrote Terry Schum, College Park’s director of planning community and economic development, in an email.
The new store could be positive for students, said senior community health major Owen O’Keefe, who is president of the Students for Sensible Drug Policy at the University of Maryland.
“Well-run head shops provide consumers with more knowledge about the products they are buying, as well as types of harm reduction, such as how to reduce the harshness of smoke,” O’Keefe said.
City student liaison Chris Keosian agreed the store could be a potential positive addition for the city, noting in an email that “any new business on Route 1 would be good for the local economy.”
The store is open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday, according to the shop’s storefront.
