Simply put, cannabis is becoming mainstream.
New York City-based entrepreneurs Charlotte Hanna, Geraldine Hessler and Penelope Nam-Stephen sought out a different approach to cannabis through their first-ever cannabis store: Rebelle.
“Most markets legalized medical first, and a lot of the medical dispensaries became recreational,” founder Charlotte Hanna tells Forbes.
For Hanna, who designed the space herself, design was a major part of her mission in creating a luxury shopping experience.
The interiors are soft and intimate, with various shades of wood, spacious windows, curved countertops, circular motifs plants, bright overhead lighting and white walls.
“My store is located in the Berkshires, so it was really important for it to feel appropriate to the Berkshire community,” Hanna says.
Hanna custom-built everything in the store, from the curved countertops to the locally sourced circular wooden sign from Berkshire Products, which has the country’s biggest inventory of live wood.
“There are a lot of curves and circles in the space because sharp corners feel hard,” she says.
They also partner with ROCA, a Boston-based nonprofit that helps lift Black and brown men and women out of poverty through programming, job training and more.
“Rebelle and our parent company, Community Growth Partners, wanted to make sure we were very intentional about undoing some of the harm that has been done by the criminalization of marijuana,” Hanna says.
I am a New York-based freelance writer who covers luxury lifestyle, as well as home design and luxury real estate.