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

Section 11-18 makes it unlawful to sell or offer for sale tobacco, tobacco products, tobacco related devices, or nicotine or lobelia delivery devices, the code's defined term for e-cigarettes and vaping products, without a license from the city clerk. Applicants undergo a public safety department background investigation covering the retail establishment and anyone with at least a five percent financial interest, and the city council votes to approve or deny the license. Licenses run for one year from April 1 through March 31, and renewal requests must come in 60 to 90 days before expiration.

Section 11-18(f) bars any moveable place of business, meaning trucks, vans, or other non-fixed locations, from being licensed at all; only fixed-location retailers qualify. Licensed premises must display the license conspicuously and cannot allow indoor smoking, and Sec. 11-18(k) extends that ban to e-cigarette vapor, prohibiting vaping inside any licensed tobacco retail establishment except for vapor lounges that already held a tobacco sales license before June 24, 2014. Vending machine sales and self-service open displays are separately banned under Sec. 11-22 and 11-23, and licenses can be denied for applicants under 18 or with tobacco-law convictions within the past five years under Sec. 11-20.