The “Now Entering Tyngsboro” sign is planted immediately past the edge of the parking lot for Smokin’ Joe’s Ayottes Stateline Store on Route 3A in Hudson, and there are two more convenience stores within half a mile.

These three stores already do a brisk business selling alcohol and tobacco products to Massachusetts customers who want to save money.

Thanks to a $1-a-pack tax increase that went into effect in the Bay State on Aug. 1, Ayottes has begun to see an influx of new customers.

“It’s been crazy today,” said Diane, a manager at Ayottes. “We have a lot of regulars, but there were more people I’ve never seen before, and they’re all complaining.”

A survey of the parking lot at Ayottes revealed an even split between New Hampshire and Massachusetts license plates. One customer said he lives half an hour away but goes there to buy his cigarettes because it’s only 15 minutes from where he works – and that it’s worth driving that far to save the extra money.

In Brookline, too

A couple towns over at Tobacco Haven – on Route 13 in Brookline, near the border with Townsend, Mass. – the story was the same – more than half the cars in the parking lot sported Massachusetts plates, and business was booming.

“It’s been nonstop since we opened the door,” said cashier Darlene as she rang up a purchase for three packs of Marlboros.

The customer was Angela Quinn, of Townsend, who said her husband paid $10.49 for a single pack earlier in the day at home, and here she could buy three packs for less than $20. She knows her prices: Marlboros cost $6.19 a pack at Tobacco Haven, and her order tallies to $18.57.

“I’ve been buying my cigarettes here even before it went up,” said the next customer, also from Massachusetts. “It’s crazy not to.”

Massachusetts’ tobacco hike came as part of a transportation finance bill after the Legislature on July 24 overrode a veto by Gov. Deval Patrick. Excise taxes on cigarettes increased by $1, to $3.51 a pack, the second-highest rate in the nation. (New York’s rate is a whopping $4.35). Taxes on cigars rose by 30 percent, and smokeless tobacco users will pay an additional 90 percent in taxes.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids website, the average state cigarette tax in non-tobacco states is $1.67 a pack, the average in tobacco-producing states is 48.5 cents a pack, for an overall national average of $1.53 a pack. New Hampshire’s cigarette taxes, which just went up by a dime, are slightly above the average at $1.78 a pack.

Almost directly across from Ayottes in Hudson is Best Bet Stateline store, where an outdoor sign lists prices for cartons of cigarettes: $42.99 for Wildhorse, $43.99 for Pyramid, and for the premium brands, $53.49 for Camel and $56.49 for Marlboro.

“It’s ridiculous, absolutely insane,” said customer Jennifer Grondin, who lives in Lowell but works in nearby Dracut, Mass. “I would rather go without than buy (cigarettes) in Mass. I won’t even buy a pack there; I’ll wait until the next day. I’d love to quit, but it’s not that easy with all the stresses in life. I feel bad for the people who live on the Cape and can’t easily get them cheaper.”

Inside Best Bet, manager Jackie said customers had been commenting all day that they won’t buy cigarettes in Massachusetts anymore. She did indicate, however, that with her next delivery, she expected to raise her price by $1 a carton.

A few doors down is Rogers NH Stateline Store, where cashier Katie reported a higher than usual volume of traffic the day after the increase.

“Not so much Marlboro, but the knockoff brands like L&M and Pyramid,” she said. “A lot are regular customers, and the Mass. people come up on weekends.”

On Route 111 in Hollis, The Hatch Convenience Store sits about half a mile from Pepperell. The cashier there said he sees a lot of customers who come across the border, and even has one regular customer, a trucker from New Jersey, who buys 20 cartons every time he’s passing through the area.