Cannabis Industry Making Its Mark In NYC High-End Shopping Areas

NEW YORK, NY – The cannabis industry has begun carving out its own place along the landscape of New York City high-end shopping, according to a recent CNBC report.

Since New York State announced the legalization of recreational cannabis in March 2021, 166 licensed dispensaries have opened across the state, pulling in over $100 million in revenue.

50 of those dispensaries are in New York City, including some that have sprung up in iconic luxury shopping districts such as Fifth Avenue.  One example cited in the report is the Travel Agency on Fifth Avenue, an adult-use recreational marijuana dispensary which also has locations in Union Square and Downtown Brooklyn.

Founder Paul Yau said the average purchase includes two products, largely gummies, marijuana flower or pre-rolls, at the average price of $80 to $90 a ticket. Products range from $3.50 THC seltzers to flower selling at $150 per ounce, and accessories sell at higher prices.  The business’s three current locations have opened in the past 18 months and a fourth will soon open in SoHo.

Yau said his products and the design of his store space are designed to target a new kind of shopper that he called the “canna-curious”.

“The 40-year-old female shopper is a really strong demographic, and that demographic is just emerging in New York,” Yau was quoted as saying. “When people came into our store, they knew immediately it wasn’t an illicit store.”

51% of the proceeds from the Travel Agency’s dispensary in Union Square are donated to the Doe Fund, which supports formerly incarcerated people transitioning to life outside of prison.

Another company reaching out to a new segment of consumers is Cann, which infuses its can of seltzer with a microdose of cannabis.   The company said it believes in expanded access to cannabinoids and that trusted, high-quality beverages can help to normalize the plant.

“Part of the reason we made these cans, little and small and pink and pastel, is because we’re trying to communicate approachability to the consumer, like you can drink the whole thing. Don’t worry, it’s just 2 milligrams,” Cann founder Jake Bullock said.

Cann, whose backers include actress Gwyneth Paltrow and former NBA star Baron Davis, has formed a partnership with the Montauk Surf Lodge on Long Island to make its spiked seltzers available to the lodge’s affluent and high-spending clientele. A 12-pack of 8 ounce Cann seltzers with 2 milligrams of THC costs $49.95.

CNBC notes that others are vying for a share of the high-end cannabis market with their own products, such as luxury home designer Jonathan Adler with marijuana home decor items like marijuana storage canisters and bowls that sell for nearly $300 each, while “Lifestyle brand Edie Parker sells everything from smoker-friendly handbags to rolling papers, giant colorful glass pipes and $450 table lighters.”

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