A spate of firebombings has swept through Melbourne over the past week, the most recent in Fitzroy North on Monday morning.
Police have not confirmed the motive of attack, but are treating the blaze - which damaged another two neighbouring shops in the Melbourne inner-city suburb - as suspicious.
Explosions were heard shortly after the tobacco store was set alight by an unknown offender, with a dark coloured car last seen leaving the area.
Victoria Police closed 61 stores caught selling illicit tobacco, with alleged links to organised crime, over the past four weeks.
It comes amid a nationwide crackdown spanning back to late 2025, with state-by-state legislative changes giving local authorities the power to shut down stores for selling black market cigarettes.
The state has continued to face what authorities say is the fallout from illegal tobacco sales, with a spate of suburban firebombings involving young offenders.
Recent attacks could be linked to these measures, Deakin University criminologist James Martin told AAP.
"Criminological research shows that violence often increases when you do a law enforcement crackdown, which is kind of counterintuitive," he said.
Dr Martin warned the frequency in attacks could continue if authorities kept adopting reactive interventions.
"They don't take care of the underlying drivers, which is strong persistent demand for nicotine," he said.
"Increasing cigarette prices or cracking down on illicit stores, none of that gets rid of the underlying demand for nicotine.
"The more restrictions we put on the legal supply of nicotine, that plays directly into the hands of the organised crime groups who are now are making a killing, literally and figuratively."
Close to 30 firefighters were needed to control the most recent blaze, which damaged the tobacco store and spread to a vegan cafe next door.
The cafe took to social media to describe the "devastating" damage on Monday, with the business remaining temporarily closed.
"We are heartbroken but no defeated. We will be back stronger than ever when we can," the cafe said.
The store on a busy shopping strip has been gutted, with images showing drink stock still intact inside a fridge and the shop's exterior sign undamaged.
Officers remain at the scene during a wet morning in Melbourne, with police tape cornering off the shop.
About 30km away from the tobacco store fire on Monday, fire crews responded to a separate suspicious blaze in Craigieburn.
Police established a crime scene after a car was set alight while it was parked in a driveway about 6.20am, causing damage to the garage on the property.
Another suspicious fire damaged at a Korean barbecue restaurant on Sunday morning.
Just days earlier, six cars were set alight at separate locations in a single night.
There have been more than 150 tobacco store fires in Victoria since March 2023.
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