New in the Woo Cookies Come to the East Coast

NEW IN THE WOO: COOKIES COMES TO THE EAST COAST

TRAVIS DUDA

Through a partnership with New Día, LLC, the popular international cannabis brand, Cookies recently expanded their operations to the East Coast for the first time. They’ve taken over and transformed the storefront at 118 Cambridge St. and have created a cool spot for travelling stoners and local potheads alike.

One of the best parts of this new deal is that the partnership included the existing New Día staff and provided resources for an additional 23 new and locally hired staff members. New Dia Owner, Ross Bradshaw, sees this as an opportunity to both expand their impact on the local economy as well as expand its mission as one of the first Massachusetts economic empowerment applicants.

I learned about Cookies halfway through POW! WOW! Worcester 2021. A group of us were standing at Jason Naylor’s mural on Jackson Street when a car full of Cookies employees pulled up and handed us free swag bags. Inside the branded drawstring bags were stickers, a lighter, and info about their opening.

Due to the mural festival, I wasn’t able to attend the opening, but it looked like a heck of a party. They even set up the first few customers with branded folding chairs and other gear. I also saw a photo of their CEO, Berner, holding up a sign showing Cookies “Worscester” which made me a little skeptical. But any doubts faded after seeing their interior design and large, correctly spelled, Worcester postcard poster. I was already familiar with their location, having been to New Dia a couple times, but now the dispensary is dripping with Cookies branding. The shelves are loaded with the available Cookies strains. They feature a mix of edibles, topicals, and other products from local cannabis brands, as well as exclusive, New England themed clothing. Between the neon lights and the bumping hip hop, the environment feels exciting and fun to explore.

During my first trip, I was escorted through their showroom by one of their budtenders who was eager to tell me about all the different strains, as well as show me the differences using their magnified display table. This space age serving tray is loaded with buds from all of the available strains in containers that resemble the fifty cent prize machines at the grocery store. Each of the eggs has a built-in magnifying glass, allowing easy viewing of the frosted nugs. Don’t get handsy though, the eggs are to be touched by staff only, and are secured down with a wire, similarly to a cell phone display.

I really enjoyed how knowledgeable their budtenders are and the way they create a personal shopping experience for every customer. This causes a little bit of a slow down when trying to get into the facility, but once I got through the front door, the experience was worth the wait.

I left with some Collins Ave and Sticky Buns which were both really nice for different reasons. Collins Ave was a nice working herb while Sticky Buns ended up being the evening hang. But that’s just my experience. Find a reason to head to Cambridge St and check out New Dia’s new look. I think it’s pretty sweet.

420

IN THE 0 5 8

TRAVIS DUDA

BILLIONS. WITH A B.

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission released a report showing that gross sales of recreational marijuana topped $2B in August 2021. It’s been about three years since the opening of the first recreational dispensaries and we’re really just seeing this money making machine getting into motion. The industry doubled their sales in less than a year, and with more dispensaries opening up every week, sales might cross the $3B mark by March/April 2022. But let’s be honest, this should surprise no one. We all knew how quickly this industry would grow. Multistate operators are clamoring to get a piece, acquiring licenses and companies alike, just to get skin in our game. And of course there’s studies showing that cannabis purchases increased more during the COVID-19 pandemic than in the previous years. So if you have some investment capital laying around and you haven’t invested in a local cannabis company yet...here’s your sign. It’s probably not too late.

BLUNTS, BONGS, PRETZELS?

If you’re on stoner TikTok you’ve probably come across the user rawkandrolling, better known as Josh Kesselman, the founder of RAW Natural Rolling Papers. If you haven’t, and you happen to be a lover of funny, pot-related things, go find him. He’s hilariously animated in every video and loves showing off all the creative and innovative products that RAW is making. However, there’s a slight problem. Cannabis use is strictly against TikTok policy, and users have had their accounts banned for smoking on camera or even showing buds. So, Kesselman brilliantly skirts the rules by showing off their products using pretzels. Pretzel sticks to be more specific. Notable inventions include a hands-free pretzel snacking device, a frisbee that can hold a pretzel while being thrown to your friends, or an extra long lighter made to prevent thumb burning while lighting pretzels. I personally don’t use a lot of their products but I always get a laugh when his account comes across my FYP. It’s great to see all of their devices get a fun secondary use. Now if only I had a pretzel that found lost lighters.

POUCH OUT

There’s a trend in the cannabis industry of selling flower and edibles in plastic pouches with zip tops. The problem is, in an attempt to make these childproof they’ve inadvertently made them stoner proof as well. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, picture a Ziploc bag on steroids. Recently, I was trying to open a package of Incredibles gummies for my wife and it turned into an entire chore. Wanting to do it correctly, I searched for an instructional video with secret tips, but they said to use my nails. No luck, those got clipped the night before. I struggled so much that I ended up grabbing a pair of scissors and cutting the thing open. I’ve since been told there is a special way to press and slide the two sides of the bag between your thumb and index finger. Unless the packaging comes with grip areas, I have a hard time with this method. So now I’m whining to my fellow stoners. Do any of you know a trick I don’t? What’s your opinion on the pouch? Hit me up on social media.