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 quantify, back this up, or should we just take your word for it?
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.
This store is within a half a mile of three other stores on Broadway, on 72nd St. and on 86th St. That’s at least seven legal pot shops in the neighborhood now between 65th St. and 99th St. All while the black market is still thriving. Hard to believe that it’s sustainable.
Rachel, are plenty of older people who use cannabis for medical reasons and find these stores to be convenient and others who use it for relaxation and pleasure so your assumption that all older people are against the stores is not founded in fact. But, no matter what someone’s age, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and shouldn’t be age-discriminated and wished to be dead because they may have an opinion that differs from yours. How would you like it if someone said to you, “Just grow up!”
Is this a fully licensed legally sanctioned dispensary? i.e. licensed by the state/city? If not, perhaps you should focus on the places that are, like Flower Power at 22 West 66th, The Flowery on Broadway and 91-92nd, etc.