Vape shops have taken over our high streets with tacky branding, flourescent lights and hordes of teenage customers flooding out the door.
Nowhere more so than in Cheetham Hill in Manchester, where a staggering 54 vape shops line just two streets.
The inner city neighbourhood, once home to Marks and & Spencer’s first ever shop, has been transformed into the ‘Canary Wharf of vapes’.
Just a stone’s throw from Strangeways prison lies Harris Street, where 30 consecutive vape shops make up every single outlet on the road.
Next door on Overbridge Road there are 24.
Although not every outlet is dedicated to selling e-cigarettes, shoppers will also recognise a familiar high street scourge – American candy stores.
A further 14 vape shops operate in the surrounding streets in what could arguably be considered the country’s e-cigarette capital.
With little other trade, business owners have formed their own vape enclave with few passers-by.
A staggering 54 vape and e-cigarette shops line just two streets in Cheetham Hill, Manchester
Harris Street, just a stone’s throw away from Strangeways prison, has 30 vape outlets in a row
A worker of 16 years at Uncles Vape Co, who gave his name as George (pictured), said: ‘This is the hub where everyone buys vape liquid from. Not from London or Scotland but here. Every customer knows this street’
Stewart Powis, 63, a retired serviceman, claimed: ‘You know what they are doing down there – money laundering.
‘They’re always going to say they are not. They’ve replaced all of the clothing shops.’
A local man, walking his dog, told the Daily Mail: ‘It’s a s***hole, no one wants to go around here.’
One local business owner added: ‘I don’t bother going down there. There’s nothing to do. Why would I?’
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) Chief Inspector Andy Torkington previously told the Mail: ‘You’d drive round there and think “Why do you need another vape shop?”
‘But the reality is that a box of legitimate vapes similar to what you’d fit 24 packs of crisps in has a £1,500 mark up on it, from the wholesale price to what you would end up selling to the retailer.
‘You only have to look at the cars of some of the people to work out the finances that are involved.’
‘And, of course, if you can sell the illegal ones the mark up is even greater.’
He said the vast majority of the vape businesses in his area are entirely legitimate. But not all.
‘Some do it, not all of them do it, some solely do it, some part do it,’ he said.
Harris Street, which is located just off Bury New Road has been branded the ‘Canary Wharf of vapes’
With little other trade, business owners have formed their own vape enclave with few passers-by
‘They used to say “that shop is 95 per cent legitimate”. Well that means it is illegitimate then because five percent is selling criminal stuff – that means they are bent, doesn’t it?’
The build up of vape shops has been branded ‘ridiculous’ by Communities Secretary Steve Reed, who admitted people are ‘sick to death’ of them.
He said: ‘We are seeing a proliferation of a certain type of shop on too many high streets.
‘There are two streets in Manchester which between them have 51 vape shops [sic], that is absolutely bizarre.
‘That is not going to bring people to the high street, you need a diversity of shops.’
Local communities will be given new powers under Labour plans to determine which retail unit replaces another.
But Lib Dem councillor John Leech, the leader of the opposition on Manchester City Council, said the Labour government has ‘failed to recognise the planning processes which are needed to protect shops on the high street’.
He told the Mail: ‘They’ve chosen to relax planning rules so authorities do not have the strength to reject the proliferation of vape shops.
‘A shop that might have been a green grocer in the past might have been replaced by a similar one. But now it can be replaced by anything.’
A Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) spokesperson said: ‘As the Secretary of State said, it is bizarre that just two streets in Manchester can be home to so many vape shops. Our high streets deserve better.’
Stuart Powis, 63, claimed: ‘You know what they are doing down there – money laundering’
Harris Street used to be home to a number of counterfeit clothes, perfume and watch stores but has since been taken over by vape shops
Every single outlet on the Manchester street is dedicated to selling e-cigarettes and vape products
The vast majority of shops are vape wholesalers who distribute to shops across the north of England
Families across Britain fear the death of their high streets as pubs and independent shops are turfed out for cash-only barbers, American candy stores, betting shops and vape suppliers.
Just 35 per cent of Brits believe their local high street is in a good state while 43 per cent think it is a bad way, according to a survey by YouGov.
The decline of town centres has contributed to the loss of more than 360,000 retail jobs in the last decade.
While thousands of small shops, restaurants and hotels are facing crippling tax rises as Chancellor Rachel Reeves restricts a temporary help on business rates to pubs.
And even tourist heavy town centres from cathedral city Canterbury to Shakespeare’s home of Stratford-upon Avon have felt the pinch.
Cheetham Hill, which historically housed industrious Victorian textile workers, once bustled with cafes, hairdressers and a much loved food market.
But the area has for decades been labelled Europe’s ‘counterfeit capital’ for its collections of fake designer clothes, perfumes and watches.
A major police swoop on Bury New Road, known as ‘counterfeit street’, in 2023 saw 238 arrests, the closure of 216 counterfeit shops and the seizure of 400,000 illegal vapes, 2.4million class C drugs and £500,000 cash.
GMP said they shut down 12 units ‘masquerading as legitimate shops’ in one raid as part of Operation Vulcan.
The workers who previously manned market stands have turned to vape stores, some shop owners claim.
They say their streets have since become the nationwide hub for vape wholesalers, warehouses and sellers.
And they have hit back at accusations of illegality.
A worker of 16 years at Uncles Vape Co, who gave his name as George, told the Mail: ‘As long as they’re not harming anyone and they’re not doing anything wrong, I don’t think there’s a law in England which says you can’t have the same type of shops all in a row.
‘And if they’re all surviving they must be all able to pay their bills. They’re not nicking anything or stealing from anyone.’
Adie, a local resident whose brother owns a vape shop, said: ‘It’s a hub for vape supplies. They are all wholesalers. It is the number one hub in the country for vapes. We are wholesalers for all of the north.
A major police swoop on ‘counterfeit street’ in 2023 saw 238 arrests and the closure of 216 counterfeit shops
The area used to host a thriving garment wholesale scene but has transformed into the country’s vape capital
The vape outlets are decorated in fluorescent colours while many boast of their cheap deals
On Overbridge Road there are 24 vape shops. Although unlike its neighbouring street there is also an American candy store
Asked why there are so many vape shops on the same street, he said: ‘There’s nothing unusual going on, once the market got cleared out, lots of vape shops popped up.
‘I don’t understand why there is such a negative impression of vapes and vape shops. Cigarettes are still selling.
‘Everyone thinks there’s something else going on but there isn’t. They are supplying to 1000s of shops across the country.’
George added: ‘This is the hub where everyone buys vape liquid from. Not from London or Scotland but here. Every customer knows this street.
‘If you look at the history of this place, wholesale has been here for generations. My father started trading in the 1960s, selling garments.
‘One minute its garments then it’s tracksuits then it’s trainers, then it’s mobiles, then it’s electric goods, now it’s vapes. And maybe in five years this will die out and there will be something else.’
Asked if the number of vape shops might arouse suspicion, he said: ‘I go into the Arndale Shopping Centre and its 50 places selling clothes, do I think they are all up to something? It’s how people perceive others.
‘The vape shops only came about because people have nothing else. They come over from abroad and think it’s a business and there’s demand. If there’s not a demand why would they pay the rent?
Despite the proliferation of vape shops, he claimed they ‘have no competition’.
The Palatine Inn pub (pictured) is one of the few local establishments not selling vapes
Andy, a dropshipping business owner who frequently buys vapes from the area, said: ‘You get people coming over from Ireland and Newcastle for the vapes’
Vape shop owners say their streets have become the nationwide hub for vape wholesalers, warehouses and sellers
Bright boards advertising vapes are plastered across the railings on Overbridge Road
‘People are selling different things, some are selling drinks too, some are selling Rizla papers.
‘We’re unique, we manufacture vape liquid to serve the customers to take them off dirty cigarettes.
‘We started this business to stop people doing that. We invested our money into the company and manufacture in England, we employ people in England.
Another worker at Uncles Vapes said: ‘There was lots of dodgy stuff in Cheetham Hill but that’s all been cleared up.
‘A lot of the shop owners are Afghan and come from abroad. Half of them are mates or cousins. They all open one if their mates open one. They used to be standing around in the street when the market was going.
‘Since then it’s all been cleaned up. The police got rid of the markets and the Chief Constable got rid of the illegal clothing businesses.
He said there were so many vape shops because the area has always been a ‘wholesale hub’.
‘This place has got history. First it was Jewish people working with garments, then the Pakistanis and Indians, it’s like a chain.’
Andy, a dropshipping business owner who frequently buys vapes from the area, said: ‘You get people coming over from Ireland and Newcastle for the vapes.
‘If you want the best prices you come here. If you’re buying online from wholesalers they are marking it up. This is as good as it can be to get good prices.
‘It’s the centre for it. It’s like the Canary Wharf of vapes. Someone else opens a new shop and it doesn’t stand out.
‘Looking at the area, we’re only here for vapes. You are not going to open a coffee shop over here, nobody’s going to use it.
‘I’ve been coming here for 15 years. Some shops have been here for 10 years but with others you get a churn and some new ones opening.
Manchester’s trading standard officials are said to be aware of the build up of vape shops around Harris Street and Overbridge Road. There are not thought to be any current concerns.
Police launched Operation Vulcan to clean up the area which has for decades been labeled Europe’s ‘counterfeit capital’ for its collections of fake designer clothes, perfumes and watches.
Greater Manchester Police seized 400,000 illegal vapes, 2.4million class C drugs and £500,000 cash under Operation Vulcan. Pictured: Illegal drug prescriptions
The roads have been raided for illegal vapes on multiple occasions in recent years.
A £1m haul of counterfeit vapes was found behind a hidden door and confiscated in a police swoop on one shop in September 2024.
Police, Salford City Council and Trading Standards officers found a ‘whole new room concealing the illicit vapes’ in their raid.
Police also seized £25,000 of ‘potentially harmful vapes’ which did not comply with regulations in October 2023 from a shop on Harris Street, while a month later 3,132 counterfeit vapes worth £47,000 were snatched from another shop on the same road.
Steve Reed has promised to stamp out shops that ‘turn out to be fronts for organised crime’ and will instead encourage ‘real local businesses’ to return to town centres.
He said: ‘We know communities are sick to death of seeing another dodgy business open up on their high street – whether that’s a vape shop, American sweet shop or a mini mart – and how they feel powerless to stop it.’
As part of a new Pride in Place scheme, which will see £380m invested into Greater Manchester, local councils will be given more powers to veto vape and betting shops
The MHCLG spokesperson said: ‘We are investing up to £5 billion – including £380m in Greater Manchester – so communities can take control of their town centres – giving councils the power to say no to vape shops, breathing new life into areas that have been neglected and restoring pride in place.’
