Retail in Asia

In Shops

Are cannabis retailers the new kings of design?

Good Chemistry cannabis retailer

The Apple store is considered a prime example of a killer retail store — a beautifully designed space that attracts customers to come in, hang out and buy expensive products. Each Apple store, on average, makes about $4,799 per square foot, a recent report finds.

But some marijuana dispensaries are catching up with, and in some cases besting, Apple. Blum, a dispensary in Oakland, California, owned by husband and wife duo Derek Peterson and Amy Almsteier (who both own public marijuana company TerraTech and marijuana brand IVXX) brings in about $7,000 per square foot, Almsteier says.

After decades of doing everything they could to keep a low profile to avoid legal scrutiny, the cannabis industry’s retailers, like Blum, have started using design and retail strategies that have worked so successfully at some of the most profitable storefronts in the country, like Starbucks, Apple and Whole Foods.

Cannabis retailers have gotten so good at it (helped by a range of hot products containing THC) that the average marijuana dispensary brings in $974 per square foot, besting Whole Foods’ average $930 in revenue per square foot, according to a recent report from Marijuana Business Daily.

Read more on Inc. to see the ways that cannabis retailers are becoming the new kings of merchandising and retail design.

(Source: Inc.)