Libacco: Stun guns & pulmonary function tests - from the everyday life of a store operator

One evening in 2011, Christian Tänzer was in despair at St. Petersburg airport. He had missed his return flight and his Russian visa was only valid for a few hours. "According to the Russian police officers at the airport, I would have been threatened with jail if I hadn't left the country by midnight." Despite acute time pressure, Chris allowed a promotional team for e-cigarettes to hold him up for a few minutes because he was so fascinated by "smokeless nicotine inhalation". Thanks to a speeding cab driver, he managed to cross the border into Finland five minutes before midnight. "The next day, I ordered my first e-cigarette online," Chris recalls.

Although Chris initially had no intention of quitting smoking, he unconsciously started using tobacco cigarettes less and less often and vaping more and more frequently instead. Tasty liquids, such as the products from happy liquid, which have been sold at Libacco since 2018, make e-cigarettes a better stimulant for him than the classic smokes.

How butter-soft toilet paper kick-started a vaper's career

Chris always dreamed of being self-employed and at one point had a list of 88 business ideas. "After working as a paper engineer on making toilet paper softer, I wanted to do something that would have a greater impact on the lives of others," says Chris. In 2015, Bianca and Chris ventured into self-employment, initially with an online store. This was followed in August 2016 by the vape store in Cologne, which is almost next door to Cologne University Hospital. After just a short time, they got reinforcements in the store: Ju-Yong Chang is the third member of the team.

Customers come to the store from all over - and with different requests. "One crazy customer came running into the store with a stun gun because of a faulty Pico battery pack and attacked us. Thanks to the coronavirus spit guard, he only suffered a minor graze. If he had known that we have a satisfaction guarantee, he might have saved himself the trouble," says Chris, recounting a curious episode in the Libacco story.

Libacco has a very high proportion of women in its customer base. Chris is convinced that this is down to Bianca: "Women attract women - but without putting men off." As there are many female smokers, there is still a lot of potential in addressing women better. "Ju and I often talk too technically and complicatedly, while Bianca manages to explain the same things much more simply," Chris remarks approvingly. For 10 tips for e-cigarette beginners and a taste of the Libacco team's extensive advice, watch Bianca's video.

Ju the guinea pig

"Can you still see through all the vaporizers?" we want to know from the store owners. The Tänzers confess: "No, it's no longer possible to test every vaporizer extensively. You have to make a pre-selection. We then test them and add the best ones to our range." Libacco therefore only sells products that the employees have tested themselves beforehand. "And what about the huge selection of liquids? Do you like trying out new varieties?" we continue to ask. "Not really, but we have Ju," the Tänzers smile.

Ju started vaping in 2013 to quit smoking. But the smoking cessation aid quickly became a hobby and the entry-level device was replaced by mechanical battery carriers, drippers etc., which he collects and coils with enthusiasm. "Today I even make my own coils. My favorite coil is the Ultra-Fine-Fused-Clapton," Ju tells us with a smile on his face.

While Chris and Bianca found each other when they were young, neighbor Ju joined Libacco as one of their first clients. For two years, they joked that Ju would quit his job as a dance teacher to work for Libacco. And that's what happened in the end. Now Chris and Bianca are very grateful that Ju "always inspires our customers with so much enthusiasm, competence and good humor. We hope he stays with us until he retires!"

Ju had a few liquids to vape, especially during the longer delivery times caused by the liquid tax. In order to bridge bottlenecks and meet customer demand, Libacco added new brands to its range, which of course had to be tested extensively by Ju before they went on sale.

High standards for product quality

What has always made the Libacco store special is the high standards that the operating team sets for transparency, product safety and excellent service. Before battery cells are sold, Libacco charges them and measures the resulting temperature and internal resistance to ensure maximum safety.

A "liquid traffic light" created by Libacco helps customers to quickly identify where the liquids come from and which liquids come from responsible manufacturers such as happy liquid and are suitable for plastic tanks.

"When we confront the manufacturers with our questions, we quickly realize what makes them tick. We have already received many indignant answers," Chris reveals. There are certainly German manufacturers who dismiss such questions as superfluous. However, diketones (which are now banned) appear in the safety data sheets of their products. For the Tänzers, "Made in Germany" is not an automatic guarantee of quality and product safety. The Libacco owners want their customers to know what they are vaping and where the ingredients come from that they inhale several hundred times a day.

"As far as we know, there is no other liquid manufacturer in Germany that is so concerned about product safety. Every single one of our many questions about bottling, the ingredients and their origin was always answered perfectly," confirms Chris happy liquid. Most other liquid manufacturers first have to ask the flavoring supplier whether it contains triacetin. In addition, there are at most two other manufacturers who do not use sucralose at all. "But happy liquid hasn't folded, it has always stayed true to its own line," Chris credits the Munich-based company. This is particularly remarkable as, in his experience, liquids with this sweet additive are easier to sell.

Chris has also taken a clear stance against disposables and is boycotting disposable e-cigarettes for three reasons:

"A major German importer who analyzes them in the lab revealed to me that the most popular disposable brand, depending on the flavor, contains 4-7% sucralose - that's almost 100 times more than common liquids containing sucralose - and up to 30% additives in total. Product safety is completely ignored here."
"This makes them so squeaky sweet and intense that they are mostly vaped by young people. E-cigarettes should be a help for smokers and not be marketed as youth hype."
"Millions of batteries end up in household waste every day due to disposables. From an ecological point of view, that's absolute madness."

Chris' conclusion: "Nothing makes our industry as vulnerable as disposables."

We want to "make non-smokers"

A free lung function test helps newcomers to observe how their lungs are recovering. In addition, Libacco offers a free research service for all health-related questions in order to provide advice based on scientific principles. The team debunks fake news, summarizes studies and explains the rules for battery safety.

Libacco is also committed to doing things that are detrimental to business if they seem sensible from the customer's point of view. For example, the trio recommends vaping less, warns against controversial ingredients such as sucralose and points out the disadvantages of individual devices. With the Stop Smoking Center, the three have opened a store within a store to help smokers quit cigarettes. The e-cigarette is just one of several ways to achieve this goal.

"Unfortunately, 78% of vapers don't make the complete switch. That's why we're currently planning more content on the subject and are constantly improving our quit support program," says Chris. Her stop-smoking center is actually more of a "Harm Reduction Center", although few people are familiar with the term. "It means we want to help customers minimize unnecessary risks and achieve their personal goal - even if it's not a politically correct goal." The trio helps people to reduce their cigarette consumption and smoke more safely.

Chris reports a prime example from everyday life at Libacco: "A customer who, according to our lung function test, still had non-smoker's lungs after 50 years of chain smoking. She then explained that she only inhaled very shallowly into the uppermost part of her lungs. I then did some research and found that studies also confirm that smokers who inhale more shallowly have a much lower health risk. I still find it incomprehensible that nobody talks about these aspects. Official bodies only warn and demonize both smoking and vaping across the board instead of pointing out differences that could benefit millions of people."

Tobacco liquids are suitable for getting started with vaping, "because they go well with both beer and coffee". Incidentally, the Libacco owners see their own organic coffee and personal advice as the main reason why vapers come to their store instead of buying online.

MTL out of passion

The Libacco owners swear by MTL vaping because it's the closest thing to smoking a cigarette. "I like this short, crisp throat hit better than the long DL hit," admits Chris and lists the advantages of mouth-to-lung (MTL) vaping:

Less liquid and power consumption,
smaller clouds that disturb bystanders much less and
hardly any risk of triggering a smoke detector.

"And MTL is probably also easier on the lungs - especially if you don't inhale too deeply," says Chris.

"I'm still happy every day when I open the store," says Bianca, drawing a more than satisfying interim conclusion after seven years of the physical Libacco store.

Has the owner couple tried the Happy Club Mix - one of the bestsellers - for themselves, or did they just let Ju taste it? Just ask the Libacco team yourself when you visit them in Cologne!