At 420 N. Martin St., in the shadow of Cleo’s Bourbon Bar, stands a worn, brown metal door. It leads to a flight of stairs and into 420 Underground.
“The address actually prompted the name,” said Vanessa Dockrey, 27, manager of Wishbone Gift Shop, which owns 420 Underground in The Village. “420 North Martin, and we just called it the 420 Underground.”
Inside stands manager Jacob Price, 24. His hair in dreadlocks, he cards customers as they walk in. Ska and reggae music plays off of a Mac behind the counter.
“It took me forever to get this job,” he said. “I applied when I was 18 during high school, and I didn’t get the job until I was 19 or 20.”
The venue is beneath street level and light seeps in from the street above. To the left, customers can browse their collection of posters, ranging from “Pulp Fiction” to Pamela Anderson. About half of the sleeves are empty, as the store’s supply is running somewhat dry.
“I like the idea that it’s dark and kind of secluded,” Dockrey said. “When buying tobacco accessories, a lot of people like the seclusion.”
The front counter houses smaller, single hit pipes as well as tobacco cigarettes, including traditional brands like Camel or Marlboro. Intricately carved wooden cigarette holders rest in a glass box on the counter. A sign behind the counter says, “All of our products have a traditional, historical use for tobacco smoking.”
Glass display cases house 420 Underground’s wares, pipes, water pipes, lighters and acrylic glass cigarettes. A few are neatly organized and others are piled atop each other. It varies from case to case. Some of the pipes are manufactured while others are hand blown. There’s one in the shape of a pink elephant: the stem is its trunk and the bowl isin the small of is its back.
“Occasionally we deal with walk in artists,” Dockrey said. “We’ll kinda pick out of their cases, but the artist that we feature locally at both stores is Austin Yoder. He used to work here [at Wishbone] for five years. Then he started blowing glass, so we carry his stuff because he still lives in town. It’s not really any specific blowers. Probably the biggest name is Bear Claw down there. The rest of it is Chaos Water Pipes, Huffy Glass, and the rest of it is just ordered randomly.”
The rest of the stock is bought online or through wholesalers.
“We’re the paycheck to paycheck prices,” she said.
420 Underground began three years ago as an offshoot of Wishbone Gifts, located in downtown Muncie. The shop wanted a location closer to campus.
“People want the cheap stuff,” said Price, who has worked for Wishbone and 420 Underground for four years. “But near the end of the semester, when students sell their books, we see more of them come in and maybe buy a more expensive pipe they’ve always wanted.”
Price said the primary source of sales comes from shisha, an intricate pipe system utilizing slow burning coals and filtration water, with mouth pieces on the end of one or multiple hoses.
Dockery maintains that community and personality are the most valuable things the store offers.
“I always feel like the people I work with are really great people,” she said. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know all of them, and I feel like if you walk in to any one of our stores you get to meet us like family.”
The establishment also prides its self on its role in the Muncie community. They maintain that since 420 Underground is a local business, all of the money spent there stays in the local economy, an important issue during hard economic times. The business always tries to give back to its clientele.
“We get bigger sales, but less traffic [than Wishbone, 420’s parent store],” Price said. “More money is exchanged at once, but there’s fewer people stopping through here.”
Every April 20, Wishbone and 420 Underground have a 20 percent off tobacco accessory sale. A local or regional band is hired to play, Carter’s donates free hot dogs and Wishbone buys beer that is given away to those who make purchases.
“We call it ‘Hippie Holiday,’” Dockrey said.
Despite the modest accommodations and its three-year history, 420 Underground is happy and content with the role it plays in the Village.
“It’s just a small local head shop,” Dockrey said. “You know, a nice homey place.”
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