High Design: The Revolution Taking Over Cannabis Dispensaries
A new wave of entrepreneurs are taking over cannabis dispensaries in the U.S. and Canada, with each project focusing on delivering a higher-quality cannabis experience.
“We’re at the beginning of the transformation of the cannabis industry,” Mike O’Neil, President and CEO of Aphria, told Yahoo Finance. “We’re all doing our part to move it forward.”
Cannabis entrepreneurs are betting that the cannabis industry’s most common perception – that it’s a “game for kids” – is not true.
“The majority of people think cannabis is a kid’s game, but as soon as you realize you’re playing with a lot more money than you’re used to, the fun has to increase,” Scott Hutter, co-founder and COO of Cultivate Holdings, told Yahoo Finance.
More people are looking to learn about cannabis or become a cannabis entrepreneur, which is fueling the current interest in the industry. (The global cannabis industry is estimated to be valued at $132.3 billion, according to Arcview Market Research.) According to Arcview, the marijuana industry is projected to grow by approximately 10% from 2018 to 2019.
Story continues
It looks and feels different in most places, says Mark Hopkins, chief executive officer of BMG Dispensary, who opened his company’s first location in California in June 2019.
“When you walk into a dispensary, it doesn’t look like a dispensary,” Hopkins said. “You walk in and you don’t feel the odor. There’s a sense of urgency and, unfortunately, a lack of education that I think is still there, but there is a lot of education out there now.”
It’s the evolution of how dispensaries are built that’s attracting interest from these new entrepreneurs. The cannabis industry offers a variety of opportunities, and it’s unclear what is holding back new entrants.
On one end, there’s a lack of understanding of the cannabis industry, so many new entrepreneurs are hesitant to try it out. In California and other
