Hookah shop opens in Providence Square center

James Long enjoys the flavor and scent of a good hookah. He wants others to experience it, too.

Long, 24, and cousin Michael Gerasch, 21, opened Nimbus, a hookah shop and lounge, in the Providence Square Shopping Center on April 22.

It's a place where customers can sit, relax and enjoy smoking together from a hookah pipe.

Nimbus is the first of its kind in Virginia Beach, said Long, who has visited lounges in Norfolk and Newport News. They offer socializing in a relaxing, peaceful environment, he said.

The owners of Nimbus said many people are unfamiliar with the hookah, also known as water pipe, sheesha, nargile and aggileh.

The popularity of smoking from a hookah originated in India and spread through the Middle East, Persia, parts of northern Africa and Turkey, according to www.tobaccofreeu.org.

Tobacco, often fruit-flavored, is placed in the hookah and heated by coals. The resulting smoke passes through tubes and water, so it cools by the time it is inhaled.

Hookah has become popular on college campuses and trendy hookah bars. It's enjoying a resurgence, especially among Arab-American adolescents, according to Thomas Eissenberg, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor who co-authored a recent study.

"Water pipe smoking may be associated with significant health risks, and we only now are beginning to accumulate information on this issue," Eissenberg said in an article published by VCU.

The pipes are also not without controversy. In 2006, Virginia Wesleyan College banned them from campus because of the perception they could be used to smoke illegal substances.

The young owners of Nimbus want to dispel those perceptions. "We're all on the up and up," Long explained.

The partners are no strangers to the business world; they just marked one year's ownership of the Great Wall Chinese Restaurant, next door to Nimbus.

Long worked as a waiter at Great Wall for seven years when the previous owner of the 25-year Kempsville staple decided to sell.

"I was managing a 7-Eleven and thinking about opening a bar," said Long, a 2002 Kempsville High School graduate who holds a bachelor's degree in Asian studies from Old Dominion University.

When the storefront next door became available, Long thought it would be ideal for a hookah shop and lounge. He and Gerasch painted the walls, laid ceramic tile, brought in cozy furnishings, wired in a stereo system and built a bar area. They offer free wi-fi, table games and sell bottled drinks and coffee.

Gerasch, a 2005 Kempsville High School graduate and full-time business major at ODU, differs from his relative in one major aspect - a nonsmoker, he has never tried hookah.

"But, I've been in a hookah lounge; they feel homey," he said. "They're a nice place to talk with people you haven't seen in a long time."

That's precisely the atmosphere Long and Gerasch want to establish at Nimbus.

At Nimbus, three brands or qualities of flavored tobacco cured in molasses or honey are available for purchase: Starbuzz Premium ($14.95), Layalina ($12.95) and Nakhla ($10.95).

Each brand has a variety of flavors including fruit, mint, cola, coffee, rose and vanilla. Nimbus also sells a selection of hookahs, from $25 to $230.

Dan Benson, 23, of Windsor Lake, has become a regular. "I have a hookah at home and I can smoke there, but I like the environment at Nimbus, he said.

"In our modern society when people are so busy not communicating with one another, this type of place gives people a chance to come together," said Benson.

Sandra J. Pennecke, pennecke@cox.net.