SHOP
Up in SMOKE George Hoffman keeps it classic at his Hillsborough Street shop by CHRISTIAN TERRY photography by EAMON QUEENEY
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s soon as you scuff your shoes on the hardwood floors of Pipes by George, you’re welcomed by the distinct aroma of lit cigars, a kaleidoscopic collection of pipes on the wall and the chipper voice of the shop’s owner, George Hoffman. Despite the curated feel, when Hoffman opened the Hillsborough Street shop in 1986, he didn’t have an exact idea of what he was going to sell. “I chose to sell pipes and cigars for two reasons: I knew 50 | WALTER
a lot about tobacco, and I liked that cigar and pipe smokers tend not to abuse it— they take time to enjoy it,” he says. For Hoffman, smoking a pipe is not just about consuming tobacco, it’s a ritual. “My shop isn’t a smoking lounge necessarily, but it feels good knowing people feel like they can come here, find something they like and just sit down and relax for a little while.” While new regulations are in place to prevent smoking inside, Hoffman’s store was grandfathered in with the older rules. “There’s
hardly anywhere in Raleigh that you can smoke indoors, and I understand why. All I know is that I’m very grateful that people can still come and try my stuff right in the store without any hassle.” The other thing about pipes and cigars, Hoffman notes, is that it can be a cost-effective way to enjoy smoking tobacco. “Once you buy a pipe, it can last years if you care for it. We have beginner pipes that are less than $30, and cigars in our humidor that are $3 a stick. Of course, we carry premium stuff, too: I
