When I first started studying the social impacts of alcohol outlets, one of the things my research team and I were interested in was where alcohol outlets located. We found (see here) that off-licence outlets tended to locate in areas of high deprivation in Manukau City. I've since replicated that analysis a couple of times in unpublished work, for both South Auckland and Hamilton.
I was interested to see that this new article by Robin van der Sanden (Massey University) and co-authors, published in the New Zealand Medical Journal (sorry, no ungated version online, but you can sign up for open access for free), finds very similar results for specialist vape retailers (which are defined here). They used Google Maps and Google Street View data to locate all of the specialist vape retailers across 14 Auckland suburbs, then categorised them into three types: (1) upmarket; (2) budget; and (3) 'store-within-a-store' (which are located inside or attached to convenience stores, petrol stations or liquor stores. The main results in terms of the relationship between store numbers and social deprivation are shown in Figure 1 from the paper:
This figure shows the median number of specialist vape retailers (in total and by type) by social deprivation. In their sample, stores tend to be more likely to be located in the most deprived two deciles (9-10), and least likely to be in the least deprived two deciles (1-2). Aside from that, I wouldn't draw too much from the analysis here. Because these are median counts per suburb group (not per capita or per land area), differences could reflect population size, commercial zoning, or land area rather than ‘density’. So if high deprivation suburbs also tend to have higher populations, or to be larger in area, then the apparent relationship between social deprivation and the number of specialist vape retailers is confounded. However, at the highest level there does seem to be some tendency. Van der Sanden et al. worry about this, concluding that:
The concentration of SVRs in high-deprivation suburbs in Auckland may warrant further regulatory responses that better balance the needs of predominately adults to access vaping products as a means to stop smoking with limiting vape products to young people who have never smoked...
However, Van der Sanden et al. don't really explore why specialist vape retailers may locate in areas of high deprivation. I've done quite a bit of exploration and thinking on this in relation to off-licence alcohol outlets, and I suspect that the reasons might be similar. And it doesn't require retailers to be 'targeting' high deprivation communities in some predatory business strategy. I have a few hypothesised reasons for more specialist vape retailers in more socially deprived areas can be explained with some simple economics.
First, if a prospective retailer is looking to run a retail store that maximises profits, one of the aspects that they must consider is the costs of operating the business. Ceteris paribus (all else held constant), a store with lower costs will be more profitable. Areas of high deprivation tend to have lower commercial rents, and are therefore less costly to operate, and will generate higher profits from the same revenue.
The second hypothesis is a little more complex, and involves a bit of economic geography. Each store may have a particular 'catchment area', which is the area from which its customers come to the store. In a low deprivation area, where everyone owns a car, and often commutes a fair distance for work, the catchment area for a store might be quite large. So, stores that are located close together will be in direct competition for consumers, since their 'catchment areas' will substantially overlap. In contrast, in a high deprivation area, fewer people might own cars, or they may not run reliably, or they may only be able to afford to drive them to and from work without long side-quests to buy vapes. So, the 'catchment area' for a store will be much smaller, and stores can be located closer together without being in direct competition for consumers. And so, we might expect to see more vape stores in areas of high deprivation than in areas of low deprivation, because the retailers are trying to minimise competition with other stores (although they may then need to balance a smaller catchment, which has less spending power, against the costs of operating the store).
Finally, the differences may reflect differences in demand. If vaping rates are higher in more socially deprived areas, then demand for vaping products may also be higher in those areas, and attract more vape retailers. I don't really know whether there is a social gradient in vaping, although the New Zealand Health Survey suggests that there is, with more vaping among people living in areas in the most socially deprived quintile. Of course, there is a potential reverse causation problem with the demand-side explanation, because more specialist vape retailers located in socially deprived areas might drive more vaping in those areas.
None of that is to say that having more specialist vape retailers in more socially deprived areas is a desirable outcome (especially if they do indeed drive more vaping). Van der Sanden's proposed policy response may be appropriate. However, the situation we observe could be explained by some simple economics. So if policymakers want to reduce retail availability of vaping products, they can focus on practical levers (licensing, zoning, proximity rules) without relying on arguments about predatory business practices, or vilifying store owners (both of which I have seen in the case of alcohol retailers).
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