Happy Days officially opened its doors in Farmingdale on Long Island on Jan. 2, and is currently serving about 1,000 customers per day.
In its first few months of business, the store has been attracting a customer base that’s older than some Happy Days partners initially expected, said Paul Lepore, the store’s president. The shop’s customers mostly consist of people over the age of 55, Lepore said.
In a Q&A with NY Cannabis Insider, Lepore answered questions about what customers are buying, customer demographics and challenges in New York’s legal weed industry.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
About how many customers are you seeing per day?
We’re seeing about 1000 customers a day, so things have definitely been going in the right direction.
How many workers do you employ?
We have 45 employees at the moment – mostly full time. Our dispensary is built out around customer service and providing an experience and education to our customers and also to our community. We want to have enough staff – educated and trained staff, to really make sure that any customer that comes in gets their questions answered.
What kinds of products are selling the most?
Flower is No. 1 by far, then vapes and pre rolls. Flower makes up for anywhere between about 35% to 40% of the total sales at the store.
What brands are selling the most?
It differs from week to week. We always try to promote local brands and small businesses and minority-owned brands, and we really see that coming through with some of the sales data.
Which demographics do you see as your target market?
One of the things that I told my partners in the beginning is to expect the average age of our customers to be older than you might think. The average age of our customers is about 55 years old – and that’s spread pretty evenly across men and women, across races, genders and creeds.
Can you describe your business experience outside of cannabis?
I was in the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical industry. Additionally, over the past 12 years I was a consultant in the cannabis industry.
How does that experience translate to running a cannabis dispensary?
It’s been very beneficial being able to understand how different forms and types of cannabis are metabolized by the human body – and how that’s going to differ from person to person across several different factors. That really allows us to spread the education and the knowledge.
How much of a problem do illicit cannabis shops present to your business?
It’s hard to tell. For dispensaries in the city, there was definitely a huge impact. There were a lot of consumers who did not know the difference between a legal store and an illicit shop. So in the city, it had a huge impact. Out here on the island, it’s still very impactful that consumers are going into different stores and pop-ups and ordering delivery from stores that aren’t licensed shops.
What advice would you give to other entrepreneurs planning on opening dispensaries?
For those who think that they won the golden ticket from Willy Wonka: it’s definitely rewarding, but it is a lot of work to run a cannabis company. Whether it be retail or otherwise, there’s a lot of regulation, it’s a ton of paperwork. You really need to be staying on top of everything, being hands-on, having really trustworthy staff that sees the same vision. So, yes, it’s very rewarding, but it’s a ton of work.
I’d say definitely think about who you’re going to partner with, where you’re going to be located and what you want the ethos of your entity to be. And just be ready to have early mornings and late nights on a continuous basis to really operate successfully and to build a strong foundation.