Welcome July 2020

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

With Halloweentime upon us, ghosts and goblins all around the world are gearing up for the annual celebration of the macabre. Between dressing up in fun costumes and making caramel apples to taking our kids trick-or-treating around the neighborhood, there’s no shortage of things to do at the end of October; but did you know that some of the earliest traditions revolved around the use of incense and other herbal blends?
When I was in college, my sophomore year roommate, who went by Bear, had a two-foot-tall bong with a name. Green Lucy was a gorgeous emerald-colored masterpiece with thick, bulbous glass at the top, comfortable for ripping huge hits. It was a celebrity on our floor of the creative arts co-op where we lived. People would come from all over the house, and sometimes from other parts of campus, just to hang with Bear and get baked from Green Lucy.
Charlea came into the cannabis space as a journalist, covering Missouri’s fascinating cannabis landscape as it rapidly evolved. While reporting on the state’s medical marijuana vote, Charlea got to know a local physician who was equally passionate about legalizing medical use in the state.
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.