April 24, 2017

Meet Luke Tschantz of Hawkeye Vapor in Norcross

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Tschantz.

Luke, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I started vaping when I was serving as a Naval Officer in Honolulu, HI back in 2012. In my home state of Iowa, I would come home on leave and people didn’t know what my vape device was. This led me to believe that vaping hadn’t come to Iowa yet, although it was very popular on the west coast and in Hawaii. I started doing some research about companies that I could distribute and wholesale products for a new vape store in Eastern Iowa. I opened a kiosk in a dilapidated mall on August 1st, 2013. The mall was over half empty and our only traffic we saw was from the Chick-Fil-A lunch rush. After 5 months of being open, the mall notified us that they would be closing, and gave us a 90 day notice to vacate. At this point, I was still serving in Hawaii so to build a new store after the mall closed was a tough assignment. We found a location close to the mall in a standalone brick and mortar building, and built Eastern Iowa’s first vapor lounge. A newspaper quoted “vapor lounge” because the concept was so new to the area, people didn’t realize exactly what the vapor lounge concept was.

I met my wife in Iowa City during her final semester in Dental School. She is a native of Augusta, GA and wanted to move back to the south. We decided on Atlanta due to the ease of travel back to Iowa from Delta’s hub at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. I enrolled in Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University’s MBA in Aviation program and contemplated my business future in Georgia, all while running Hawkeye Vapor remotely from Atlanta. After 6 months of planning, I launched a premium e-liquid company called Nighthawk E-Liquid and started contacting wholesalers and distributors to sell my new product. This new subsidiary of Hawkeye Vapor provided me a platform to enter into another sector of the vapor industry as a manufacturer. The e-liquid company allowed me to travel all over the United States, France, Amsterdam, England and Poland during 2016. I decided to open another vapor lounge in Norcross, GA after having a need for warehouse space to relocate Nighthawk E-Liquid shipping and receiving operations. Hawkeye Vapor Atlanta provides the vape community a 2700 square foot vapor lounge with TVs, couches, a pool table and a vapor bar to sit and hang out with other vapor enthusiasts.

After finishing my MBA in March of this year, I look toward the future and have hopes of expanding my vapor company into the distribution market, and continuing to expand my vapor store locations throughout the Midwest and the south. I am a licensed pilot, and I enjoy sharing my love of flight with others. I hope to one day start an aviation non-profit to help disabled veterans with their transition out of the service.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
The vapor industry is constantly changing, with new products being introduced into the market every day. This makes inventory management very challenging to ensure you don’t get stuck with outdated products. From an e-liquid manufacturer standpoint, it is a very challenging industry because of pricing fluctuations in the market, and vape shop owners and wholesalers reluctance to try a new product. In addition to the changing market, the FDA is trying to regulate our industry into extinction. If the vapor regulations pass as they are written, 95% of the vape industry will be regulated out of business in August 2018. This potential regulatory framework is very concerning to me as a business owner.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Hawkeye Vapor – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
My company started as a small kiosk in an old mall. I now have 2 locations in different parts of the country, 2 e-liquid companies that are internationally distributed, and I am working on an e-commerce platform that will have expansion ability into the distribution side of the business. We specialize in providing a fun environment for our customers, new products and a wide selection of e-liquid and accessories. I am most proud of my company’s ability to change with the market, and the ability to provide employment to numerous people. I believe that our people we have working for Hawkeye Vapor make the company great. It’s all about the experience, and that starts with the employees. I employ people who have a passion for vaping, and a passion for helping people in their transition from combustible smoking to vaping.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
My proudest moment in my career was going to the vape convention in Warsaw, Poland, and being a small vendor on our first international convention. We entered into the e-liquid awards, and we won 1st place for Best Candy flavor. It was a great accomplishment to win an award in this industry, and we hope that this will be the first of many awards in the future.

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