About us
The Mission of VGI Brands (which includes our retail operation, Vape Guys, Inc., and our distribution company, VGI Distribution) is to provide our customers with both the highest quality, safest products and uniquely personalized service that ensures their own business success, while also serving as an industry leader and catalyst for positive change within the sectors we serve.
VGI Brands envisions smart sustained growth within the sectors we serve and seeks to be a recognized business leader who continues to prioritize our customers and the success of the entire industry in order to provide consumers with access to their choice of quality, safe products.
VGI Brands began as a retail operation called Vape Guys, Inc. as a small retail storefront in Colonial Heights, Virginia in 2014. With a small investment of only $10,000, founder Yan Gleyzer saw the opportunity to reach a new, growing market in the demand for alternative nicotine products. Sales quickly grew, and our company outgrew its first location in only 6 months and continued to expand into additional locations and markets, such as hemp-derived products, whose demand began soaring after Congress passed the 2018 Farm Bill.
With this growth, our company transformed into serving a distributor role as well for other local shops in the same industry, but this mission quickly expanded into serving both a national and a global client base.
In 2021, we rebranded as VGI Brands, and the company now includes both our retail operations, Vape Guys, Inc., and distribution company, VGI Distribution.
Our business has continued to flourish, and our team’s first priority is the growth and success of each individual customer’s enterprise, and we aim to provide the most effective market research in the industry to ensure the products we sell will be those that will bring our customers the most revenue.
As other businesses scaled back in 2020 amid the global economic recession caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we decided instead to focus on new investments and expansion into new markets. From our brand new warehouse in Colonial Heights, Virginia, our nearly 30 employees continue to serve a global customer base.
We believe that the key to our company’s growth and success is the personalized experience we provide for each and every customer. Each VGI client has a dedicated account representative who collaborates on a personal level and knows their needs and various challenges intimately. Our company executive team, still led by founder and CEO Yan Gleyzer, works in a mentorship role with our clients as well, offering expert advice on both sales strategies and retail operations to help them continue to drive profitability.
As our company has grown, we have made important investments in our employees as well. Our team is one of the most well-trained and well-equipped in the entire industry, and this is a result of the opportunities we provide for them to attend, be involved in, and network at industry events around the world. We place a high emphasis on our employees’ personal and professional development, and this also means better results for our customers.
VGI continues to be a key player in this market, which evolves daily as a result of changing consumer preferences and a shifting regulatory landscape nationally and internationally. We are proud to be an industry leader and to be involved in several trade associations, including the Virginia Smoke Free Association and Virginia Healthy Alternatives Association. We also encourage our customers to become involved as well, and we believe that our industry is strongest when we speak with one voice.
Finally, VGI is thankful to be recognized for our large, sustained growth and success. We have been on the Inc. 5000 list, which recognizes the fasted growing companies in America, for four years, recognized by the Financial Times, and included on the Richmond Bizsense RVA25 list twice, and these recognitions are a testament to the hard work of our employees, our strategic investments, and the relationships we have built with our more than 2,000 small business customers worldwide.