Arlington Heights, IL Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Section 12-202 of the Arlington Heights Municipal Code requires anyone doing business as a retail tobacco dealer inside the Village to obtain a license first; the only carve-out is for premises that sell nothing over the counter and merely host registered cigarette-vending machines. Section 12-201c folds vaping into that licensing net by defining an Electronic Smoking Device as any device capable of delivering nicotine or other substances through vapor or inhalation and declaring it a tobacco product for purposes of this Municipal Code, so a store selling only e-cigarettes and vape juice still needs the same license as a cigarette shop.

00 for every unregistered cigarette-vending machine beyond the first on a licensed dealer's premises (Section 12-204). 5 by 11 inches with one-inch lettering at every display and vending machine. Section 12-208 bans self-service sales entirely: tobacco products must sit behind a sales counter where a customer needs an employee's help to reach them, unless the retailer's primary business is tobacco sales, in which case no one under 21 may be on the premises except employees. Section 12-209 keeps tobacco sales at least 100 feet from any building used exclusively for school purposes, grandfathering dealers already licensed at that location before the Code took effect. The Health Services Director can demand product samples for inspection, and the Director of Building inspects licensed premises as needed under Section 12-206.