9 minute read
Building an empire
from CCR Issue 7
Berner (Gilbert Milam Jr) Founder, Cookies
Building an empire
The first experience that Berner (Gilbert Milam Jr) had in the cannabis industry was as a front desk attendant in a local shop in the Bay Area checking IDs and filling out requisition forms. He was 18. In time, Berner quickly moved up the ladder, going from budtender to eventually managing the shop. He learned everything there was to learn about the business—from purchasing, merchandising, quality control, flowers, etc. He likened the experience to attending cannabis college.
When Berner eventually teamed with grow expert Jai, the duo took what was a strain, their first one tasted like Thin Mint Girl Scout cookies, and built a brand around it. Cookies, the name of which refers to said Girl Scout cookies, soon added Cherry Pie and Cherry Cush, followed by sherbets and enchiladas. From its earliest days in a San Francisco garage to its worldwide growth, the Cookies brand continues to stay true to its roots: authenticity and innovative genetics. Along with world famous cannabis, Cookies is an apparel and lifestyle brand, too. Together, Berner and Jai continue to control the entire experience from start to finish, and seed to sale. The process is what sets them apart. It might be interesting to note that Berner also is a successful rapper and record label founder. We sat down with Director of Retail Operations Aly Dean to get some insights into what’s next for the Cookies brand.
GIVE US A SNAPSHOT OF YOUR BRAND? Cookies is an authentic international cannabis brand dedicated to growing its business through the combination of best-in-class genetics with quality premium cannabis, pop-culture resonance and social media influence. With a deep commitment to restorative justice and progressive drug policy, Cookies actively works to enrich communities disproportionately impacted by the War on Drugs through advocacy work and social equity initiatives.
WHAT TYPE OF CONSUMERS ARE YOU TARGETING? The Cookies brand is built on a culture of consumers who love and believe in the cannabis plant. Each addition to the strain library and every new retail location is created so Cookies customers can access the best product on the market. HOW DOES YOUR DESIGN CATER TO WHAT TODAY’S CONSUMERS WANT? In a nutshell, quality spaces yield a superior customer experience in which they not only find exactly what they’re looking for, but discover something new each visit. Every customer is a premium customer to us and we design spaces with that in mind, even during extenuating times like the COVID era.
WHAT KIND OF ADJUSTMENTS HAVE YOU MADE TO HELP CUSTOMERS SHOP IN THIS NEW LANDSCAPE? With COVID, it is common to include breath barriers and various safeguards to protect budtender safety as well as customer safety. We also limit capacity within the store and interaction between customers so everyone can safely enjoy the Cookies immersive experience. WHAT TYPE OF AREAS DO YOU LOOK FOR WHEN SEEKING STORE LOCATIONS? We aren’t a company that adheres to a strict straight-shot formula for location management. We employ all the standard industry best practices such as evaluating population density factors and quality of available real estate. However, being a cannabis enterprise means we also have to consider stricter than average zoning requirements, limitations with license availability and balance that with locations where our customers want to be.
WHAT’S YOUR SHORT-TERM STRATEGY? LONG-TERM? We’re fortunate that our short-term strategy is the same as our long-term strategy—to bring quality products to our customers inside quality spaces. Being in the cannabis industry also means we are operating under
a rapid scale model, breaking ground on new sites inside new markets constantly, while simultaneously improving processes.
WHAT’S THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE YOU CAN OFFER TO OTHER BRANDS ON HOW TO DEAL WITH WHAT IS HAPPENING RIGHT NOW IN THE MARKETPLACE? Remain nimble and trust, but verify.
WHAT MAKES YOUR LOCATION ENGAGING TO TODAY’S CANNABIS CUSTOMER? HAVE YOU ADDED ANY IN-STORE FEATURES? Cookies Santa Ana is the brand’s first superstore. The 11,000-plus square foot dispensary not only features Cookies cannabis products, but is outfitted with an attached clothing store, a seating section that doubles as a DJ booth and a Cookies logo suspended from the ceiling. Additionally, it was built with space set aside to be used for future onsite cultivation and production.
WALK US THROUGH HOW AND WHY YOUR SHOP(S) IS DESIGNED THE WAY IT IS? TAKE US THROUGH YOUR CONSTRUCTION AND DESIGN STRATEGY. All of Cookies’ concepting has been organic and rooted in the rich history of our founders Berner and Jai and their collective cannabis cultivation experience, along with Berner’s grassroots approach to branding. So much goes into the design process—everything from the market specifics to maintaining brand standards and the customer journey. We ask ourselves, “What do we need to do in order to uphold each location, regardless of market?” We constantly are innovating at Cookies and considering brand and market preferences as well as our partner references. At the end of the day, we want to provide a consistent and top-tier experience for our customers.
GIVE US A RUNDOWN OF YOUR MARKET’S LAYOUT As legalization allows, our goal is to have our Cookies stores in every state in the US and every country in the world. Finding the right cultivation and distribution partners within each market is very important to us to ensure our best-in-class genetics and standards for premium quality cannabis are upheld. Our goal is not to be the biggest, but instead the brand with the best quality cannabis everywhere we legally can be.
WHAT’S THE BIGGEST ISSUE TODAY RELATED TO THE CONSTRUCTION SIDE OF THE BUSINESS? The most common building construction issues we’ve faced are the side effects of
living in a COVID world. It affects everything from lead times on raw materials, to shipping, import and export fees to permit review. Each authority having jurisdiction (AHJ) has their own unique approach to conducting inspections, and it can add time to the process.
TALK ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? We take a view of sustainability through everything we do, whether that is packaging for shelves or crates to be shipped across the country containing large fixtures, to reducing our truck loads to decrease carbon emissions. We try to work with local vendors as much as possible and capture in bulk. We also install low-flow toilets, and automated dimmers and timers on our LED fixtures to reduce our outputs. For those nonbelievers, taking an approach with sustainability in mind also helps the bottom line by reducing operating costs. WHAT IS TODAY’S CONSUMER LOOKING FOR? Today’s consumer is looking for the best quality products that fit within their budget and a welcoming environment.
TELL US WHAT MAKES YOUR BRAND SO UNIQUE? CEO and co-founder Berner started his cannabis career as a budtender in the Bay Area during California’s early days as a medical cannabis forerunner. He quickly realized there were not any “brands” and the cannabis itself was sold in very unappealing bags, so he wanted to establish a brand with appealing packaging. He wanted to build out the Cookies brand further and started Cookies SF, a non-cannabis line of streetwear and lifestyle products, so that the Cookies brand could live outside of just cannabis and become more of a bigger movement and cultural phenomenon. Berner also is involved in every step of the product-development process—from PR to marketing, to creative to operations—and is extremely dedicated to ensuring that our products are consistently the highest quality in every market. Berner has built this brand from the ground up through social media primarily, and has an incredible cult following of fans from all over the world.
WHAT TYPE OF OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU SEE MOVING AHEAD? There are endless opportunities for innovation. If you’re looking for it, opportunities will reveal themselves.
WHAT TRENDS ARE YOU SEEING/EXPECTING? We are still experiencing a period of differentiation within the dispensary environment, which is an exciting phase to be in. Companies are still defining how they want their stores to look and feel, but soon we will head into a copycat phase. Within retail in general, I’m seeing a movement toward curated customer experience married with expeditious access to product.
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO CREATING A “MUST VISIT” LOCATION IN TODAY’S COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE? Creating a “must visit” location means creating an immersive customer experience that provides a glimpse into the future of cannabis retail.
ONE-ON-ONE WITH...
Director of Retail Development Aly Dean
Describe a typical day. What’s the biggest thing on your to-do list right now?
The only thing that is typical about this line of work is that no day is the same as another. I wake up early, try to meditate or do yoga, and then hit each day with new calls that start around 7:30 a.m.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Anyone who works in the development space probably will say it’s the satisfaction of closing a big deal or seeing beautiful spaces being delivered, or turning the keys over to a new building that has been built—but for me it’s much more. It’s seeing the happiness and appreciation on the faces of our customers and partners when a deal is done, or they do the first part of their walkthrough and realize the space is as much theirs now as it was ours during the building process.
What was the best advice you ever received?
Never burn a bridge and follow all leads. You never know where a deal could originate or a qualified vendor referral can come from. Even when you get busy, always make a point to circle back with people at a later date.
How do you like to spend your down time?
What’s down time? I gravitate toward activities that center me, so that usually means going on a jog outside in the sunshine, going out to try new food with friends or taking a trip somewhere new.
