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

72 requires a tobacco dealer license for every store, stand, or vending operation that sells tobacco, electronic cigarettes, alternative nicotine products, or vape hardware within city limits, though wholesale-only sellers are exempt. Applicants apply in writing to the chief financial officer, listing the business name and sales address, and pay the annual fee set by the city's current fee ordinance. Licenses run on a calendar year, expiring every December 31 with no proration for partial-year operation. 060 bars new tobacco licenses within 100 feet of any building used primarily as a school, childcare facility, or children's recreation site, though a business already selling tobacco there before the 2018 ordinance keeps its license, and that exemption transfers to a new owner at the same address.

050 sets the sales floor at 21: clerks must check a government ID for anyone who appears under 30, and internet or remote sellers must run a third-party age-verification check instead. No employee under 16 may ring up a tobacco sale unless they are the owner's son or daughter working in a family business. Retailers cannot hand out free tobacco samples except in adult-only facilities, and loose cigarettes sold outside a sealed, manufacturer-labeled pack are prohibited outright. 090 requires single cigarette packs, e-cigarettes, and alternative nicotine products to sit behind the counter, in an age-restricted area, or in a locked case, unless the store gets at least 90 percent of its revenue from tobacco and bars minors from entering unaccompanied.

Every licensed dealer must post a warning card, issued by the city, notifying customers under 21 that purchasing tobacco carries a fine of up to $750, and licensees answer for their employees' violations of this chapter even without personal knowledge.