State of the Empire: New York Goes Live
A way-too-early snapshot of New York's recreational opening. The lack of brands and DASNY missed deadline stir buzz in an otherwise historic opening for state and country.
On Thursday, December 29th at 4:20 pm (nice), New York’s first legal recreational dispensary opened its doors in a landmark win for the cannabis industry.
With the recent recreational legalizations in Connecticut and New Jersey, the cannabis-dormant Tri-State area embraces itself as a region ready to command market share in the near future, leaning into the city’s prowess to incubate and market brands. The new Cookies dispensary (only selling apparel and accessories for now) is a great example of how flower brands can show off and attract the canna-curious on a global stage.
Cookies NYC is slated for a soft opening on February 13th setting it up to potentially become New York’s second legal recreational dispensary — one that may contain the first-ever rooftop consumption lounge as well.
High pricing and lack of products have also been a topic of discussion. Overpriced eighths, high taxes, and a lack of category products from edibles to vapes, even flower, have been on consumers’ minds. “Can confirm it’s not great…out of edibles…prices are mind-blowing,” said Twitter user @DnbcLive after his first visit.
The lack of product selection comes down to supply chain hurdles and products needing “to be tested in their final packaging before being able to be sold. The turnaround for testing is 2-4 weeks depending on the lab. So once the packaging gets in, it will take multiple weeks to get products on shelves after that” said Brittany Tricolla Carbone, founder and CEO of TONIC and co-founder of Tricolla Farms. Brittany founded TONIC in 2017 while working as a personal trainer in the city. She’s one of a handful of NY operators working behind the scenes to get her product through the testing and packaging checkpoints. She wants to dispel the notion that limited product selection is because of corruption.
In regulatory news, the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York (DASNY), charged with creating and ramping up a $200 million social equity fund, has missed a deadline to report to the governor on its progress. Syracuse.com first reported on this.
Among DASNY’s key responsibilities, the group must find a fund manager who can raise $150M from private investors. The fund will eventually contribute to leasing and renovating 150 potential cannabis retail locations and eventually transfer operations to entrepreneurs who’ve been impacted by the War On Drugs. A DASNY spokesperson has said to expect a report “soon” after Syracuse.com’s Brad Racino requested commentary on January 3rd.
While minor regulation and product issues persist, the bigger picture still rings with optimism in an opening that two years ago seemed like decades away. “It’ll be much better in a few months,” said @DnbcLive. I agree.
Pofodys nerfect and the first iteration of any rollout will surely come with its challenges. California is still dealing with its issues after six years, especially over-regulation and its squeeze on profits.
In October of last year, I got a chance to visit an unlicensed shop in the Lower East Side, on a treasure hunt for Sativa edibles of course, and thought I had finally found them. Instead, I was handed a suspect pouch of gummy worms with little label information besides the fact that they were 1000 mg for $50. While I’ll usually pay ~$20-25 for 100mg in CA, and for the same thing, I was getting a bargain here. But I don’t agree with the price per milligram idea and would rather only overpay if I trust the product says what it says it is and is safe.
If either the canna-curious or legacy consumer is going to walk into a dispensary, their first product (in whatever form) can be a make-or-break experience. Having verifiable products is a leverage point in the battle between the regulated and black markets to win over consumers.
I’m excited to see how things keep growing in the big city.