Over four decades ago, Bruce Barnes moved his young pipe shop into an old house just north of downtown Asheville. The property, originally a tourist home called the Merrimon Inn, was the shop’s second location. For the next 43 years, it became a gathering place and refuge to an ever-changing cast of characters, many of them unforgettable.

Time passed, and so did Bruce, but the business survived. 

A second generation took over when Bruce’s son David Barnes, a retired SBI agent, teamed up with photographer Mike Booher to run the little shop. Barnes and Booher added cigars to the store’s offerings, expanded the lounges, and a community of pipe and cigar smokers from across the region began to thrive.

Walking into B&B today, you can feel the history. The Liar’s Bench. The Taj Midor. The Unusual Suspects gallery. The library of espionage and detective novels. The  ceiling lined with cigar boxes and walls displaying flags sent from service members overseas… This place is rich with history.

When David Barnes decided to hang up his hat, he made sure all the things B&B’s community loved would stay the same. He passed the mantle and keys to a B&B regular, master chimney sweep Charlie Davis. Then he rounded up a few of the shop’s old heads, men with B&B in their veins, to back the next chapter. 

With this third generation, the business exploded. And now, friends, we have outgrown our beloved Merrimon Avenue home.

This May, B&B Tobacconists and Bruce’s Pipe Shop will begin relocating to another old house, this one bigger and better. We’re not going far, and we’re taking our history and old-time ambiance with us. There should be little to no interruption of operations. 

B&B’s new location will be 520 Hendersonville Road. Same street. Same distance to town. But we’ll have a bigger space, more parking, an expanded humidor and pipe shop, a back deck, the lounges you love, and coffee next door.

So that’s the news. We’re moving, and you’re coming with us. We’ll be in touch about the move and all the festivities surrounding it.

Here’s to the next 47 years!