Summer offers so much for so many—vacations, the beach, a break from school, a time to get away, and a time to relax.
At Sweet Flower, one of Pasadena’s limited numbers of Cannabis dispensaries, there are new products and promotions as summer begins, said Michelle Mendoza, VP of Innovations at Sweet Flower.
One of their first collaborations is with local providers, THC Design.
“It’s their first collaboration with a retailer,” Mendoza explained. “We find suppliers and vendors whose message aligns with who we are as a brand, and we partner on an exclusive product release to be featured.”
Michelle Mendoza, VP of Innovations at Sweet Flower with Ena Sanchez, Sweet Flower’s Pasadena Store Manager. [Photo by Eddie Rivera/Pasadena Now]
“We have 4th of July coming up, so we always do really big programming for the holiday. Now that we have six locations, we’ll roll it out at every store, from June 28th through the 4th of July.”
The promotion will be brand-specific deals, she said, and will cover every category from flower (buds are referred to as “flower,” in cannabis retail parlance) to pre-rolled, edibles, vapes, as well as beverages, which Mendoza said “is a really big summer addition for most people as they head out to the beach.”
The store also offers deals throughout the week, such as ‘Weed Wednesday,’ and ‘Tasty Tuesday.’
“If someone’s interested in going the more edible route, definitely come in on Tuesdays and check us out,” said Ena Sanchez, Sweet Flower’s Store Manager.
The store offers 15% off its entire array of edibles and certain brands often provide an additional 5% or 10% off, she explained. The aforementioned Weed Wednesday offers 15% off flower.
(While not available in Pasadena, the five other Sweet Flower locations in Southern California offer their exclusive beverage collaboration with CANN in the flavor of Passion Peach Mate, a naturally caffeinated THC beverage, which is much like a version of Red Bull or other energy drinks. Additionally, all stores feature Sweet Flower’s own branded line of flower, SWEETS.)
Having cannabis available in a wide range of products, says Mendoza, is “giving people a different way to go out and socialize and consume, without being so heavily tied to drinking, which I feel like is more predominant in social space these days.”
As Mendoza explained, “It’s providing people with the tools — if you need help coping with anxiety, especially since we’re all still coming fresh out of COVID. Some people are experiencing higher levels of stress in this situation. We can recommend a product that would be perfect to help. And then we also have ready-to-mix beverages.”
Along with providing a wide range of cannabis products for a host of maladies from stress to anxiety and sleeplessness, much of the cannabis dynamic, at least in Pasadena, is ensuring that the dispensaries fit in and become a part of the community they serve, said Sanchez.
She added, “part of our whole rollout strategy is really to be a part of the community.”
“It’s really to help and uplift the community. So, we really wanna be a part of what’s happening here and what we can help fix and change, in what we have power in doing. One of the things we do with our product assortment is we realize that this is probably one of the most diverse cities in the world.”
Thus, the store dedicates over 20% of store space to locally owned or Black or Brown-owned product lines.
“That’s a really important part of what we do,” said Mendoza. “It’s not because we’re trying to fill a quota, it’s because we believe that’s the right thing to do. When we have diversity on our shelves, in our stores, we just cast a wider net of who we can speak to. And so, I think that helps the health of our business continue to grow.”
Sweet Flower is at 827 East Colorado Blvd. Pasadena, CA. (626) 314-3106. www.sweetflower.com.
