MONROE - Darlene Vander Velden has smoked for 55 years and been in store management for 36.
She's never seen anything like what happened at her Stop-N-Go store in Monroe in the three weeks leading up to New Year's Day.
"We were depleted of all the major brands (of cigarettes) by New Year's Eve night," Vander Velden said. "Our closets were bare."
The culprit? A $1 increase in the state cigarette tax, from 77 cents per pack to $1.77 which took affect New Year's Day. Wisconsin's cigarette tax now is the nation's 12th highest. New Jersey has the highest tax at $2.28 per pack.
Vander Velden said customers started buying cigarettes in bulk two to three weeks ago. Some customers bought two cartons a few times a week. Others purchased six to 10 cartons at one time.
"I've never seen anything like buying in bulk like this," Vander Velden, 68, said. "Never."
Costs of cartons of cigarettes at Stop-N-Go ranged from $38 to $44 Wednesday morning, Vander Velden said. At Boco BP in Orangeville, Ill., just across the Wisconsin border, cartons of cigarettes averaged $39, according to manager Diane Bowen.
Bowen expects some Wisconsinites may come to her station to buy cigarettes, but it hasn't happened yet.
Vander Velden won't head south for her fix.
"I won't go to another state," she said. "I believe in spending my money in the community I make it."
Area smokers have mixed feelings on whether the increased cost of cigarettes will affect their habits.
Jon Koenig, Monroe, said he smokes a half a pack to a pack of cigarettes a day.
He said the new tax increase on cigarettes might make him cut back but then, he added with a laugh, maybe it won't.
The state's Tobacco Control Resource Center estimates that 33,300 adult smokers will quit because of the tax increase, and 65,800 youths will be deterred from taking up the habit.
Koenig said he doesn't understand why the state decided to increase the taxes on cigarettes and said he didn't think it was necessary.
"It's a person's decision to smoke," he said. "I think it's the wrong way to go about (getting people to quit smoking or prohibiting them from starting)."
Despite the increase in taxes, some smokers say it won't make them quit smoking.
"I'll do whatever I want as long as I can afford it," Joe Marx, Monroe, said.
Marx didn't want to say how much he smokes, and doesn't have any plans to quit. Nor does he have any plans to change brands.
But he doesn't agree with the tax.
Matt Kuebli, Monroe, also plans to continue to smoke but he agrees with the tax. He said rising health care costs associated with smoking makes the idea to tax cigarettes a good one.
Still, he plans to continue to smoke, he added.
Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said she expects the cigarette tax to have a limited effect.
"It's going to have an impact, but it's not like suddenly everybody quits," Busalacchi said. "But it will also help people reduce how much they're smoking, and while the best thing to do is quit obviously, reducing the amount they're smoking is better for their health."
Vander Velden said cigarettes can be frozen and "stay good forever."
She plans to alter her habits.
"I will definitely slow down," Vander Velden said. "I won't be wasteful."
- News editor Jim Winter contributed to this story.
She's never seen anything like what happened at her Stop-N-Go store in Monroe in the three weeks leading up to New Year's Day.
"We were depleted of all the major brands (of cigarettes) by New Year's Eve night," Vander Velden said. "Our closets were bare."
The culprit? A $1 increase in the state cigarette tax, from 77 cents per pack to $1.77 which took affect New Year's Day. Wisconsin's cigarette tax now is the nation's 12th highest. New Jersey has the highest tax at $2.28 per pack.
Vander Velden said customers started buying cigarettes in bulk two to three weeks ago. Some customers bought two cartons a few times a week. Others purchased six to 10 cartons at one time.
"I've never seen anything like buying in bulk like this," Vander Velden, 68, said. "Never."
Costs of cartons of cigarettes at Stop-N-Go ranged from $38 to $44 Wednesday morning, Vander Velden said. At Boco BP in Orangeville, Ill., just across the Wisconsin border, cartons of cigarettes averaged $39, according to manager Diane Bowen.
Bowen expects some Wisconsinites may come to her station to buy cigarettes, but it hasn't happened yet.
Vander Velden won't head south for her fix.
"I won't go to another state," she said. "I believe in spending my money in the community I make it."
Area smokers have mixed feelings on whether the increased cost of cigarettes will affect their habits.
Jon Koenig, Monroe, said he smokes a half a pack to a pack of cigarettes a day.
He said the new tax increase on cigarettes might make him cut back but then, he added with a laugh, maybe it won't.
The state's Tobacco Control Resource Center estimates that 33,300 adult smokers will quit because of the tax increase, and 65,800 youths will be deterred from taking up the habit.
Koenig said he doesn't understand why the state decided to increase the taxes on cigarettes and said he didn't think it was necessary.
"It's a person's decision to smoke," he said. "I think it's the wrong way to go about (getting people to quit smoking or prohibiting them from starting)."
Despite the increase in taxes, some smokers say it won't make them quit smoking.
"I'll do whatever I want as long as I can afford it," Joe Marx, Monroe, said.
Marx didn't want to say how much he smokes, and doesn't have any plans to quit. Nor does he have any plans to change brands.
But he doesn't agree with the tax.
Matt Kuebli, Monroe, also plans to continue to smoke but he agrees with the tax. He said rising health care costs associated with smoking makes the idea to tax cigarettes a good one.
Still, he plans to continue to smoke, he added.
Maureen Busalacchi, executive director of Smoke Free Wisconsin, said she expects the cigarette tax to have a limited effect.
"It's going to have an impact, but it's not like suddenly everybody quits," Busalacchi said. "But it will also help people reduce how much they're smoking, and while the best thing to do is quit obviously, reducing the amount they're smoking is better for their health."
Vander Velden said cigarettes can be frozen and "stay good forever."
She plans to alter her habits.
"I will definitely slow down," Vander Velden said. "I won't be wasteful."
- News editor Jim Winter contributed to this story.