By West Side Rag
Good Company is a new cannabis dispensary on the Upper West Side, but it’s looking to be more than that in the neighborhood.
The store at 2273 Broadway, between West 81st and 82nd streets, is also a place where you can listen to old records, sit and read a book, do yoga, or attend a speed friend-making event.
Chris Collado, Good Company’s general manager, told West Side Rag that the emphasis on connecting with the Upper West Side is twofold.
“The first part is knowing that not everybody is super open about cannabis, so we want to make sure we’re connecting with people to make it clear that we’re not just here to sell weed,” Collado said. “The other piece is to show people that we’re here to be involved and invest in the neighborhood.”
Along with the many marijuana options, Good Company uses its space for a number of social events, such as an astrology gathering on August 22 and a book swap on August 28.
“We’ve designed the store to make it feel not like a typical dispensary, or what people think of when they think of a dispensary,” Yin Lin, one of the ownership partners at Good Company told the Rag. “We want to change the narrative and experience around consuming cannabis. Even, though, we’ve had so many years of legalization, there is still a lot of stigma that we are battling, and we really want people to feel comfortable in our space.”
WSR: Why did you choose to open on the Upper West Side?
Lin: We love the neighborhood. One of our partners lives in the area. We understood that it was a great neighborhood to have a store. It was definitely a targeted approach in finding this storefront.
Good Company replaced a pilates studio and a Mattress Firm.
WSR: How has the reception been since opening?
Collado: One of the big things about us is that we’ve become a neighborhood hub of sorts. Seems like we’ve been welcomed with open arms, which is not always the case with dispensaries. We really want to be an environment where people come in and feel like they are in “good company.”
WSR: And what is your message to someone who has maybe been interested in cannabis, but never stepped into a dispensary?
Collado: Education is power. Inform yourself first. We’re not a medical dispensary; we’re recreational, but there are still medicinal purposes with all cannabis. Aside from the cannabis component, we’re a space where you can come and hang out. This is our space. We treat it like a home. When you have a guest that comes into your home, you don’t make it so your guest has to go into your fridge; you offer them something. It’s the same concept we use inside the store.
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But… we’re really here to sell weed.
Please no more pot shops. They just bring crime.
Can you distinguish between a legal and an illegal dispensary?
Please tell us how much crime has increased due to the advent of pot shops.