Want return cannabis customers? Try these tips from a retail designer

By the time interior designer Kim Myles visited cannabis retail stores for her reality TV show “High Design,” many of the owners were in dire straits.

From high fees and taxes to challenges building clientele, Myles said her clients’ No. 1 concern was competing, especially in areas where zoning laws prompted several retailers to open in the same neighborhood.

“It’s expensive to brick-and-mortar, so that tended to be what their concern was: being able to stay afloat,” Myles said.

The interior designer and winner of HGTV show “Design Star” spoke with MJBizDaily about her favorite cannabis retail designs, industry trends and how focusing too much on technology could be keeping marijuana retailers from upselling customers and growing basket sizes.

What are some design hurdles that keep cannabis retailers from reaching their potential?

As entrepreneurs – and I include myself in that; people who are entrepreneurs are bootstrappers and DIY queens – there is a tendency to look at the giant to-do list and say, “Oh, I can pick a paint color. … It’s just cases, it’s just some shelves. I can do that. I don’t need to pay for that.”

And I understand it; (design) does not get put up high on the priority list when the budgetary concerns come in.

The problem with this is: Most people aren’t designers.

Someone’s in your space, and that is so rare these days.

As a consumer, when I walk into a dispensary where no thought has been given, you will never see me back there.

For the same price, usually, I can have a bodega experience, or I can have a luxury, homey, local and specific experience.

I can choose my adventure.

What are some trends you are seeing in cannabis retail this year?

Brick-and-mortar in most places is a much more hyper-personalized approach.

A lot of dispensaries that are owned by entirely different people look the same because there’s a trend to paint the walls black, throw up a topiary green wall and put some green neon up with some words.

There’s more attention to the space, but it’s interchangeable.

If you ask most people about their favorite bar, it’s not the big general bar at JFK (John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York).

Everybody has a vibe, and I think that’ll be the pendulum swing.

I’m hopeful that more people are able to get into the business and help elevate this industry.

That’ll be the differentiator: The places that actually have a point of view.

In markets where products are behind the counter or under glass, how can stores make people feel more connected?

It’s really hard to engage the customer when there is that separation by law.

The work being done in the field of branding around cannabis is off the chain, so the best owners realize that is something they can use.

And so, you are focusing on your lighting plan, and your flow plan through the space is highlighting the things you want to highlight.

What are you trying to move? What are you trying to sell? And what do you want people to see?

If you have a captive audience in your space, grab those eyeballs.

What do you think of digital menus in dispensaries?

Most of the time, when you see a digital menu, it’s in the dispensary, it’s not in the waiting room.

And so, why would I be directed to the screen over my head if I’m standing there talking to you?

The screen is not the problem, it’s the execution.

I cannot tell you how many shops I walk into, and I am watching three budtenders do nothing, and I am directed to engage with the screen instead.

They’re doing nothing, not because they’re lazy; they’re doing nothing because they’ve been directed to put the customer through the screen.

To me, that feels like such a failure, such a wasted opportunity to be building rapport, trust and relationship, so that you’re not just getting a one-time sale, you’re getting someone who picks you over the others.

You know how you raise your ticket sales? Talking to the customer.

Ask Apple!

Sure, Apple has a whole shop that’s full of screens, but it is running wild with people, Genius Bars and techs who are there to answer every question, hold your hand, walk you through it.

That is a very focused approach when screens and screen engagement is going to be part of the protocol of the business.

When you visit retailers, do staff members have different design concerns than owners and managers?

The challenge when you’re the owner is finding great staff.

For staff in a lot of places, it was just not being able to find the product.

So many places say, “We have X amount of SKUs in the shop because we are famous for carrying everything.”

Being able to quickly find product is always a complaint.

What is the key to a great consumption lounge from a design perspective?

It’s not super sexy, but a lot of the time, the key to doing that right is making sure you have the proper air-filtration system – and not just powerful but quiet.

Another key is really creating ambiance because I think anybody can throw couches in a room and throw a screen on a wall and watch the Super Bowl.

That’s fine if what you have created is a consumption lounge that is sports-oriented.

What’s special about the consumption lounge is you’re going to spend even more time in this space.

Talk about an active audience!

Bars and restaurants, they all have a very distinctive personality.

You find the ones you love, and I think that’ll be the trend: getting very specific, having a vision, being able to create an environment for your consumer.

When is the right time for people to contact an interior designer when opening a cannabis retail store?

The right time to call me is once you have a plan, but before you’ve broken ground on any big renovation.

I always say, (call) once you have your space locked, you have all your permitting and you have your builder.

I don’t need to come into it until you have that lined up – don’t waste your money.

When we’ve organized that, that’s when you call me, and at that point, I start collaborating with the architects, and we all have a good discussion.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Kate Lavin can be reached at kate.lavin@mjbizdaily.com.