Flagstaff, AZ Business Licensing & Operations: Tobacco Retail License (2026)

Flagstaff created its tobacco retail licensing system by Ordinance 2019-24, adopted July 2, 2019, folding e-cigarettes and vape products into the same rules as cigarettes and cigars. Section 7-09-001-0002 requires every tobacco retailer, defined broadly to include grocery stores, tobacco shops, kiosks, convenience stores, gas stations, bars, and restaurants, to secure and display a tobacco retail sales license before distributing any tobacco product, and to renew it before it lapses. The license fee is set by a separate schedule the City Council adopts and updates, calibrated to cover licensing administration, employee training, retail inspections, and the unannounced compliance checks required at least twice a year under Section 7-09-001-0007.

A retailer can't renew the license while it owes outstanding fines, and every license, new or renewed, requires the retailer to sign a statement confirming they've read the chapter and trained employees on the minimum legal sales age of 21, acceptable forms of identification, and the penalties for underage sales. Section 7-09-001-0004 backs that up by requiring the retailer or its employee to check a government-issued photo ID for any purchaser who doesn't obviously look 30 or older. Section 7-09-001-0005 bars self-service displays and vending machines except in adults-only spaces, and Section 7-09-001-0006 requires a specific red, capital-letter warning sign, at least 14 by 11 inches, posted within six feet of every register selling tobacco.