Happy July, fellow fringe entrepreneurs! If you’re reading this, that likely means we’re not all in bunkers yet, so let’s just take a moment to celebrate that thought. For a second there, the evening news was starting to look like the prequel for The Handmaid’s Tale. Over here, we’re still praying to our deities of choice that it really only lasts a few seconds and things will return to a semblance of normal soon. Here’s to hoping. But there is good news on the horizon, albeit, nothing that can dwarf the senseless death and destruction we’ve witnessed in these chaotic weeks, but in terms of the smoke shop world, it’s a pretty damn big deal. HQ Magazine, your authority on all things cannabis and counter-cultural for two decades and counting, is teaming up with Smoke Shop Events to create the first official HQ trade show. What will it be like? Exactly what you’d expect from the merging of the most innovative show and the longest running publication in the space; a one-of-a-kind experience that brings our industry into the new decade with state-of-the-art technology and high-tech advancement to significantly increase your return on investment and reinvent what a trade show is supposed to be. This is evolution, folks—and not the slow kind. We’re talking punctuated equilibrium. Are you ready? We hope so. Be well and be safe, one and all. We’ll catch you on the flipside.
Recent Articles
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I went home and told my girlfriend, who, after Googling the name of the business I bought it from, told me that, yes, it was technically weed. But it was CBD. She started laughing, telling me I had been ripped off.
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State-sanctioned medical and recreational cannabis programs benefit the average user in many ways. Still, they remain a double-edged sword for dispensary owners, greenhouse growers, and others who earn their living from the cannabis industry. There are plenty of profits to be had, sure, but how exactly are you expected to secure your cash or process electronic transactions when banks refuse to work with you?
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Aubrey Amatelli wants to help dispensaries and cannabis retailers navigate one of the toughest parts of the industry: money. When the company she worked for right out of grad school was acquired by JPMorgan, Aubrey entered the complex world of payments and has stayed there for her entire career.
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There’s a paradox to business conferences. The best ones manage to swing from buttoned down to wildly unscripted—sometimes seconds apart. For attendees, it’s the combination of personal connections and professional development that makes regular trips to conferences worthwhile. And in an industry like this one, pulling that off is harder than it looks.
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Your shop is not only a smoke shop; It's also a hangout spot and a community hub. It is a place where the regulars know your staff by name, and your staff knows what the regulars need. That's the secret sauce that the big-box chains can't replicate, and it starts with who you put behind the counter.
A well-staffed smoke shop is an operational strategy, but it's also a community. In lean economic times, that community is what keeps the lights on. When people feel like your shop is their spot, they don't stop coming in when money's tight. They prioritize it.
It all starts with Hiring.
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Dr. Macias first fell in love with science while studying at Howard University, where she completed her undergraduate studies and later earned her PhD in cellular and molecular biology. While at Howard, she became especially interested in cancer research due to personal ties. Growing up in a Creole family and predominantly Black community in Louisiana, Dr. Macias watched many women around her battle breast cancer, so at Howard, she decided to focus her research on the BRCA1 gene.
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It’s almost amazing that the same institutions that brought us the 2008 financial crisis have a problem with selling glass pipes. Almost.
The truth is that an industry's past sins are only held against it when the money isn’t right. Big banks were willing to risk cratering the U.S. housing market because the profits were too good to ignore. But the cannabis industry rolls a different kind of paper, so instead of a slap on the wrist, it gets a surcharge.
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Smokeshop and counterculture enthusiasts enjoy discovery as part of the experience. Customers enjoy browsing. When they walk into a shop, they don't simply grab a product and leave. They look for something new.
This is the main reason flyers and posters still work. Smokeshops and dispensaries are highly visual environments. You want to see bold artwork, psychedelic graphics, and street-style posters that naturally capture attention.