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partnership with Glow Industries.
A few years ago when Colorado was on the
forefront of legalizing cannabis from a recre-
ational standpoint, Smoker Friendly took a se-
rious, hard look at the category. The company
decided not to jump into selling pot yet, due to
banking and federal law concerns.
“If we are breaking the law federally, what
might that do to our liquor licenses and tobacco
licenses?” reflects Terry Gallagher, Jr., manag-
ing partner of Smoker Friendly. “As long as it’s
not legal federally, we can’t take that risk with
our core business today.” He recognizes, how-
ever, that the cannabis category will remain “an
intriguing opportunity.”But for now, “we’re do-
ing really well with being a supplier of acces-
sories; it’s a really good business for us.”
It’s also a flourishing business for single-
store owner Veronica Ridenour, who tells
TBI
that “glass and accessories” make up about
20 percent of overall sales at her store, Bucks
Smoke Shop in Hilliard, Ohio. “I sell a couple
pieces from the glass department every day,”
she reports. Like her tobacco giant counterpart
Smoker Friendly, her concern is not to look like
“a head shop destination.”
She admits that she was especially concerned
about it a little over a year ago when she took
over the shop; the previous owners had glass
devices, ceramic tanks for wax and oil and oth-
er cannabis accessories, and she debated how it
would affect her business. “One of my sales reps
had me worried that it would drive away guys
getting their cigars for the golf course and such,
because you have to walk right past the glass
counters to get into the humidor which is in
the back of the store,” she says.
Ridenour relaxed after receiving no com-
plaints and seemingly lost no customers. “I
have all walks that come in here—suits and
hippies—and there are customers from all sets
that buy this stuff,” she says.
She has even decided to beef up the glass/
accessories business a bit, now that Ohio passed
the law to legalize cannabis for medicinal pur-
poses. “It will be enacted in October and I’m
ready,” she revealed. Ridenour added another 3
feet to her existing 5-foot cabinet of glassware
options, but she “also packed it more densely.”
Her retail price points on the items vary
greatly, from $7 for a tiny metal device to $120
for a water pipe. She sells mostly in the $9 to
$15 range—“stuff that customers aren’t too
sad if they break.” The best news of all from a
business standpoint: her margins are in the 100
percent range.
Designs on Devices
Retailers with a strong assortment of vaping
devices may also benefit from the growing mar-
ijuana market, as cannabis fans discover devices
capable of vaporizing marijuana leaves and tout
them to one another over social media. The
PAX 2, for example, has been widely adopted
by marijuana users.
While PAX’s new CEO,Tyler Goldman, stops
short of promoting the product for cannabis use,
he acknowledged to
TBI
that cannabis is a popu-
lar loose-leaf material that fits well with the $280
device.
“We sell through multiple channels and
tobacco stores have become a bigger and bigger
point of distribution,”he says.“As consumers seek
out premium products they tend to go back to
channels they are more comfortable with.”
Beyond the tobacco shop channel, vapor
shops are considering opportunities in the can-
nabis accessory business, too. One vape shop
owner anonymously revealed to
TBI
that glass
will be his backup business should his vape
business fail due to FDA regulation.
“Our Plan B is to have a perfectly legal glass
paraphernalia head shop-type business, and
there’s nothing wrong with it,” he states. “I can
get glass in there overnight, and grinders and
other accessories in less than 72 hours.”
TBI
Men and Millennials
Top Marijuana Demographics
MEN:
68.9%
WOMEN:
31.1%
MILLENIALS AGED 25-29
20.4%
SENIORS AGED 65 and older
<
5%
AVERAGE AGE
OF MARIJUANA CUSTOMERS:
37.6
YEARS OLD
AVERAGE AGE OF FEMALE
MARIJUANA CUSTOMERS:
38.2
YEARS OLD
AVERAGE AGE OF MALE
MARIJUANA CUSTOMERS:
37.4
YEARS OLD
HOW MUCH ARE CANNABIS
CUSTOMERS SPENDING?
MOST SPEND BETWEEN $25
AND $50 PER TRIP
AVERAGE TICKET
$33
THE MEDIAN
CUSTOMER SPENDS
$645
PER YEAR
57% SPEND MORE THAN
$500
(the largest percentage of recreational customers)
60
TOBACCO BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL
SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016