Tim and Keri Bruneel woke up Wednesday morning and got ready for a what they thought was going to be a typical day at BC Vaping Ape, the shop they own on Capital Avenue Southwest.

That changed when they read the news.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, through the direction of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, announced Wednesday morning they are filing a regulation that prohibits the online and retail sales of flavored nicotine vaping products.

“We were shocked and stunned,” Keri said.

How will the ban affect business?

The ban has not yet been filed but will go into effect in the next couple of weeks once it’s complete. Then, businesses will have a 30-day buffer period to sell the flavored products they have in stock.

BC Vaping Ape will likely not be able to sell out their remainder of flavored products, the owners said. They are the only vape shop in Battle Creek that manufactures their own juice, and they recently stocked themselves through Thanksgiving.

“It’s going to really hit us hard,” Tim said. “It’ll be devastating.”

The Bruneels said the only thing they can do right now is voice their concern and fight it as much as they can before it officially goes into effect.

They had a petition for clients to sign in their store and plan on renting buses to help Battle Creek residents attend a walk in Lansing later this month in support of flavored vaping products.

"All we can really do right now is fight it," Tim said. "That's our main focus."

The ban comes after the the state health department found that youth vaping constitutes a public health emergency for the state, according to a statement from Whitmer.

“As governor, my number one priority is keeping our kids safe,” Whitmer said in a statement. “And right now, companies selling vaping products are using candy flavors to hook children on nicotine and misleading claims to promote the belief that these products are safe. That ends today.”

That disappoints Keri, who said the reason she opened BC Vaping Ape was to promote a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes because she was introduced to them at a young age and doesn’t want people to go through the same experience she did.

“We are very strict about IDing every person that walks into this door,” she said. “That’s what is disappointing. We aren’t promoting our product to children. We are very clear about that.”

The shop has some products that do not fall under the banned products, and they are working with as many clients as possible to try to get them switched over to them, but not everyone is interested.

“I’ve had some clients tell me that they might go back to smoking cigarettes now,” Keri said. “That’s exactly what we don’t want to happen.”

They also do not sell juuls and other vaping products that do not fit their own standards.

"We already have a very strong health system put in place here," Keri said.

How do the customers feel?

Mikel Yingling has been shopping at BC Vaping Ape for six years, vaping the same blueberry and cream juice.

He said he’s in a predicament. On one hand, he wants to continue supporting BC Vaping Ape, but he won’t be able to buy his preferred juice unless he drives to Indiana.

“I don’t want to do that,” he said. “But it’s going to leave people with no other choice.”

Until the ban is officially in place, Yingling plans to stock up on as much flavored juice from BC Vaping Ape as he can.

Barbara Latshaw, Yingling’s grandmother, comes with him when he goes to BC Vaping Ape sometimes because he lives in Kalamazoo and she lives in Battle Creek.

She doesn’t vape or smoke, but she has developed an appreciation for it since shopping with her grandson and supports the shop’s cause in fighting against the ban.

“I think it takes a personal right away,” she said. “It gets people to stop smoking cigarettes and now it’s being taken away.”

Contact Brooks Hepp at (269) 223-0114 or bhepp@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter at @BrooksHepp