February 2022 Welcome

Welcome February

The biggest shopping day of the year is just around the corner! Bigger than Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Diwali rolled into one, 4/20 is the annual date when cannabis lovers get up off the couch and rush to their favorite smoke shops to grab deals on smoking accessories and counterculture goods.

Throughout February and March, leading up to the big day, Headquest would like to invite you to take part in our own 420 Giveaway. For vendors, it’s their chance to put their newest products directly in hands of buyers. For retailers, it’s an incredible opportunity to meet the people who set the trends and supply the products that will drive sales and boost that all important competitive edge.

We’ll be ramping up social media coverage of the giveaway with special announcements and livestream events where viewers can comment and ask questions to which presenters respond to in real time. Don’t pass up your chance to pick the brains of our industry’s top names and share your thoughts and ideas as well.

If you see a product you’d like to have on your shelf, you’ll be able to tap a secure link and order directly from the HQ Marketplace.

Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram feeds in the coming days for a link to register, and we’ll keep you posted on what, where and when. Sign up early and tune in for your snag free products and swag from our featured brands. One lucky winner will be celebrating with a grand prize package and will also have the opportunity for the store to be featured as Shop of the Month in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

Consider the HQ 420 Giveaway our special gift to you in the hopes that you’ll be celebrating not only on April 20, but all year long!

Recent Articles

Common business advice tends to view the 80:20 rule simplistically. Focus on the 80% of your store that drives profit, it says. Ignore the rest. That’s fine for the average folks. But what about those who want to boost the other 20%?
Before you've said a word, your shop is selling. The customer hasn’t touched a single product, and your staff hasn't even said hello. Your decor and layout have already done the talking, either pulling people in or pushing them away.
As VP of Operations at ATM Wholesaler and Elite Merchant Services, he’s picked up the baton from his father and CEO, Norman Koza, who passed it to him after founding this successful company over 25 years ago.
You’ve chosen to work in a gray area. You sell products that contain cannabis or cannabis-adjacent substances as well as accessories that can be used to consume it. And while that area has become less gray—you can see rays of sunlight peeking through—the skies are still cloudy. THC remains a Schedule 1 substance, even as medical marijuana has migrated to Schedule 3.
Running a cannabis business is notoriously complicated. For dispensaries, complex compliance burdens permeate every facet of the business, from zoning and licensing to marketing and payments. Whether you’ve been in the cannabis space for mere months or multiple decades, you’ve likely run into drawn-out approval processes, supply chain headaches, or constantly changing regulation that makes compliance challenging, not to mention the other micro and macroeconomic factors that plague all small business owners.
Blending traditional values with modernized, energetic branding, Not Ya Son’s Weed falls somewhere between the cannabis days of yore and today’s recreational cannabis boom. Not Ya Son’s Weed offers a variety of products—including pre-rolls, exotic flower, and gummies—that provide much-needed relief without being too overbearing.
The officials came for Lance Alyas once before. In 2023, they caught him in a sting, seized his merchandise, and tossed him in jail. But just seven days later, after he invoked Hawaii's version of a Freedom of Information Act request, the whole case fell apart. Alyas was released without bail, allowed to simply walk out the door. Now, he’s advocating for freedom from Hawaii’s state officials once again. Only this time, it’s not just his own freedom. As the owner of Oahu’s top-rated smoke shops, he’s fighting for everyone’s right to sell hemp products in the Aloha State.