After years of planning, Coss Marte and partners opened CONBUD in Manhattan’s Lower East Side on Oct. 19 as a legal cannabis dispensary focused at providing employment opportunities for formerly incarcerated people.
Marte has been outspoken about issues that illicit shops and strict marketing regulations are causing for licensed dispensaries. CONBUD is heavily outnumbered by illegal stores in the neighborhood, and isn’t allowed to promote itself in the ways illicit shops do.
But despite seeing fewer customers than anticipated, and adhering to tight regulatory restrictions, Marte said CONBUD is already planning to expand by opening a second location in coming months. In a Q&A with NY Cannabis Insider, Marte answered questions about competing with illicit shops, expansion plans and more.
About how many customers are you seeing per day? How does that compare to your projections before opening?
We’re seeing, on average, 100 to 175 people per day. On weekdays it’s closer to 100, and weekends it’s closer to 150. We’re seeing half the number of people we anticipated, based on foot traffic alone, and a lower basket size than we projected.
How many full-time and part-time workers do you employ?
We have 13 full-time employees and between five and seven part-time workers.
What kinds of products