Blaine, MN Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Selling any 'licensed product', tobacco, tobacco-related devices, electronic delivery devices such as vapes, or nicotine or lobelia delivery products, in Blaine requires a city license under Blaine City Code § 42-47(a). Applications go on a city form through the city clerk to the city council for action at its next regular meeting, and an incomplete application is bounced back with notice of what is missing. The city caps supply by license type: no more than 50 licenses tied to a grocery, convenience, liquor, or gas station, no more than 12 for a stand-alone tobacco products store, and just three for a tobacco products store sitting immediately next to a same-owner restaurant whose main product is cigars; existing licenses over the cap stay valid until attrition brings the count down, and the council is never required to issue every available license.

A license runs one calendar year, cannot be transferred to a new owner or location, and must be posted in plain public view. Renewal applications are due between 30 and 60 days before expiration. Blaine City Code § 42-48 lists grounds for denying or revoking a license: the applicant is under 21, has a licensed-product conviction within the past five years, had a license suspended or revoked in the prior 12 months, gave false or incomplete information, or runs a moveable business, kiosks, trucks, and vans are ineligible; only fixed-location retailers qualify.

Licensees and employees must complete a city-approved training program on legal sales requirements, keep proof of it on file, and cannot distribute free samples or allow indoor smoking on the premises except inside a licensed tobacco products store. Fees are set by the city's fee schedule under § 42-49 and must be paid in full before a license issues.