Jan. 26, 2014 By Michael Florio
An electronic cigarette store opened in Astoria two weeks ago.
City Vape, which touts itself as the only “vape shop” in Astoria, is located at 31-88 37th Street, right off Broadway.
Spiro Dongaris, the owner of the store, is an Astoria resident who believes that he can generate plenty of business from the neighborhood’s tobacco smokers.
“I believe I can convert a lot of people in this area from smoking to vaping,” he said.
Dongaris, who quit tobacco and now vapes himself, expects many people to go the E-cigarette route since it is a safer alternative.
“These don’t have the carcinogens that [tobacco] cigarettes do,” he said. “The thousands of chemicals inside a cigarette won’t be found in an electric one.”
With e-cigarettes, the user inhales a vapor, which is generated by the electric heating of a liquid.
However, E-cigarettes are controversial, since many scientists argue that the long-term effects of vaping are not known. Furthermore, most still contain nicotine.
City Vape sells a variety of e-cigarettes and accessories.
Basic starter kits, which come with a tank, battery and charger, sell for $25 to $30. Delux kits start at $60, which contain advanced products such as variable voltage batteries.
Citi Vape sells 27 vapor flavors (such as vanilla and strawberry) and Dongaris aims to have up to 40 flavors in coming weeks. Dongaris allows customers to try samples.
Dongaris is confident his business will succeed.
“I have noticed business steadily increasing,” he said, adding that he has already built “a lot of repeat customers.”
