How many new vape shops open in the US each month?

Updated monthly from the New Retailer Leads dataset.

Across the United States, roughly 1,024 new tobacco and vape retailers were licensed in the last 30 days alone. That pace holds fairly steady month to month, which means tens of thousands of brand-new smoke shops, vape stores, and tobacco retailers come online every year — each one a business that has to pick suppliers, a POS system, age-verification, and insurance from day one.

Where are they opening?

New tobacco and vape openings cluster in the largest, fastest-licensing states. Over the last 30 days the leaders were: TX (621), FL (239), IL (136), KS (10), AK (7). High-population states with active licensing programs turn over the most new storefronts, but every state adds new shops each month.

Why it matters if you sell to these shops

A new license is the strongest buying signal there is: the owner hasn't chosen a distributor, a POS vendor, or an insurer yet. Distributors, brands, payments and age-verification providers who reach a store in its first weeks land the account before competitors even know it exists.