The growing trend of vaping takes root in Northern Virginia.
Have you walked past someone standing outside smoking, but instead of a whiff of tobacco your nose breathes in a fruity scent? Or maybe you’ve noticed more and more people puffing on small metal contraptions. They’re vaping, the latest trend in smoking that is laying roots across the globe.
The jury is still out on the potential harmful effects of vaping, though the CDC is strongly trying to stop the trend, but it is catching on, and the industry is growing. And Northern Virginia is no exception, as seen in local vaping company Bumble Bee Vapor, owned and operated by Chris and Lena Bee.
What inspired you to start Bumble Bee Vapor?
Lena: We’ve both struggled with trying to quit smoking, and for us it’s the whole physical act. Smoking is really hard for a lot of people to break, so [vaping] can give people an alternative to smoking cigarettes. We’ve been affected by cancer with various members of our family. But there weren’t a whole lot of options for different e-liquids. So Chris started trying to make his own, and it launched into a company. Chris is actually an army veteran. He does a lot of work with wounded warriors and those sorts of initiatives. Our whole premise was this business that has a great product, but at the same time also gives back to our military veterans.
What makes Bumble Bee Vapor unique?
Lena: Bringing a level of creativity and craftsmanship to it. There are some companies who just do a flat strawberry or a flat peach. One of the things with Bumble Bee Vapor is that Chris is a home chef; he loves to cook. I spent 10 years in the culinary world as an event planner, a wedding planner for catering companies. We love food and flavors and being able to play around with different flavor combinations, and bringing that to e-liquids is something that really helps people find something they like, something that’s interesting and complex, and keep them on it rather than tobacco.
What are some favorite flavors?
Chris: It’s really tough. I developed so many flavors that we don’t release. I’m constantly in rotation; this week it’s Mt. Fuji and flagship, and come a warmer month it’s strawberry and lemonade and the peach flavors. Last year it was honeydew flavors. This year it’s cereal flavors.
What’s the state of the vaping industry, both locally and in general?
Chris: All of a sudden there are companies popping up all over the place with all these crazy different blends that’s not your traditional smoke. It really is just like the craft beer scene.
Lena: It goes beyond a hobby. Everyone has a story behind it. You have this tremendous sense of community within this industry, and you have vendors helping vendors. We were the first e-liquid in Northern Virginia, and a lot of other companies that are all really big now launched right after us; we were all together. There was always that competitive edge, but at the heart of it all was just a friendship and personal touch. Everyone was working together. It’s something you don’t really see a lot in other industries. —Matthew Tracy
Vaping Stores in Northern Virginia
Avail Vapor
Woodbridge, Fredericksburg, Lynchburg, Manassas, Springfield; availvapor.com
Cloud 9 Vape
Vienna; cloud9vapedmv.com
District Five Vape
Falls Church; districtf5ve.com
Elite Vape
Fairfax, Manassas; elitevape.net
Industrial Vapery
Leesburg; industrialvapery.com
Just Vap’n
Sterling; just-vapn.com
Liberty Vapors
Ashburn, Vienna; libertyvaporsva.com
My Vapez
Arlington, Herndon, Manassas; myvapez.com
Potomac Vapor
Woodbridge; potomacvapor.com
Smoke Time
Annandale; smoketime.com
Vaperz Inc.
Annandale; vaperzinc.com
Vapez Lounge
Chantilly; vapezva.com
Vapor Solutions
Falls Church; vapor-solutionsdmv.com
Vapor Studio
Leesburg; vaporstudioleesburg.com
Vaporzz
Winchester; vaporzz.com
Virginia Vapes
Dumfries; virginiavapes.com
(May 2015)
