First, cannabis dispensaries tried to channel the sophisticated look of an Apple Store. Now they’re embracing their inner Jimmy Buffett.
It’s been a long, slow process, but the legalization of cannabis in the United States is hitting main streets across the country. The growth of the marijuana business has led to a new kind of store–the recreational cannabis dispensary–and posed a new challenge for designers. Now that people can walk into stores and buy cannabis, what should those stores look like?
That’s a question the interdisciplinary design firm the McBride Company is at the forefront of trying to answer. Known for its flamboyantly kitschy, Caribbean getaway designs of dozens of Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville restaurants—as well as the slightly less kitschy Margaritaville resorts and the yes-this-actually-exists Latitude Margaritaville retirement communities—the McBride Company has been steadily translating its themed environment design to the burgeoning retail cannabis business.
Margaritaville NYC. [Photo: The McBride Company]
After working with more than half a dozen dispensaries and cannabis retailers, firm founder Pat McBride says the future of cannabis design is not so different from an over-the-top Margaritaville.
“The initial dispensaries looked more like a pharmacy or GNC or an Apple store. The connection to the history, the music, and the story of cannabis was basically eliminated,” McBride says. [Read More @ Fast Company]
The post Pot shops are opening on Main Street America. And they look like Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville appeared first on Cannabis Business Executive - Cannabis and Marijuana industry news.
Copyright
© Cannabis Business Executive
