Illawarra residents say this business is not welcome on its main street

Urban Puff and Tobacco has taken a lease for a small shop among the cafes and gift stores on Lawrence Hargrave Drive, between St Vincent de Paul and children's clothing store Banabae.

A colourful LED sign has been hung alerting Thirroul residents of the coming tobacconist, and alert them it has.

Within a few minutes of the Mercury arriving at the store on Thursday afternoon, a small crowd had stopped to shake their heads or register their disapproval.

Sheralee Rae, owner of gift store Thirroul + Co two doors down, said the tobacco sign had sparked an uproar.

"No-one is happy," she said.

"This stretch on the northern [side] is heavily utilised by families after school, before school, on weekends - it's families and parents will often leave their children to go shopping to get a gift.

"I wouldn't be leaving my child unattended now because if they happen to meander into that store with that type of merchandise being sold.

"We feel like it will seriously affect our businesses if parents don't want to come up this end of Thirroul now."

She said comments on Instagram showed the strength of feeling.

"The community is in uproar," she said.

"As a member of the community for over 25 years and a local business owner for the last five years, we as a community find it very disappointing that this type of shop is on the main street, with a neon sign going 24-7 when we're all family-based stores," she said.

"It's very disappointing for our community on the main street as you enter our beautiful seaside community village."

Leasing agent Christina Comelli of Comelli Commercial was not expecting controversy around the store when she let the premises on behalf of the Sydney-based owners.

"They're just a retailer like anyone else," Ms Comelli said.

"They sell cigarettes as do Coles so I'm not sure what the drama is.

"We really don't discriminate amongst retailers."

Urban Puff and Tobacconist Pty Ltd is registered at an address in Sefton, near Bankstown in Sydney.

The Mercury has tried to contact the company's owners.

Unlike bottle shops, a licence is not needed to open or operate a tobacco and vape store, nor is public consultation or a social impact assessment required by law.

The Urban Puff sign says the shop will sell tobacco. There is no mention of vapes, for which new federal restrictions started in January and in March.

All disposable and non-therapeutic vapes may no longer be imported, while those already in Australia that do not contain nicotine can be sold by retailers generally.

If they contain nicotine they can only be sold by prescription at a pharmacy.

If they do not contain nicotine they can be sold generally at retailers.

In 2022 University of Wollongong researcher Dr Celine Kelso said her study of over 100 disposal vapes donated and tested showed all contained nicotine, on average four to five per cent.

"We are yet to analyse a disposable device that did not contain any nicotine," Dr Kelso said.

A tobacco seller is required to notify the NSW Health Department before commencing but this is not a public process.

At first glance the tobacconist is an uneasy fit alongside the cafes, restaurants, boutiques, homewares and gift stores of Thirroul's main street.

Whether it is able to do good business in Thirroul, which is a CBD of sorts for an area where fitness and wellness are prominent pursuits, remains to be seen.

Down the road in Bulli, parents were angered early last month when a tobacconist opened at the main crossing from Bulli Public School with signs advertising it sold "American candy" and tobacco.

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