5 Cannabis Dispensaries With An Eye For Design

As much as we all love cannabis, I think we can also admit that most cannabis shops just don’t have an eye for aesthetics. Despite the stereotypes about stoners being artsy creatives, most dispensaries end up resembling either an Apple store or a college student’s dorm. 

With the sheer amount of dispensaries available to consumers, however, some shops have discovered that providing customers with a unique shopping experience can be a differentiator given that many of the products inside are the same across the board. Here are five dispensaries across the U.S. (and Canada) putting in the work to design truly beautiful spaces. 

Grass Monkey (Portland, Maine)

Grass Monkey’s eclectic dispensary design can best be described as an “urban jungle“ — as the shop owners themselves put it. The shop expertly walks a fine line between avant-garde, street art, and the absurd.

The shop’s centerpiece is a six-foot-tall graffitied banana placed right at the checkout counter. Lush green plants drape over product shelves and on the ceiling. A giant gorilla planter sits across from a painting of a red-eyed Mona Lisa. All together, one can’t help but feel like they’re walking through a modern art gallery in the middle of a jungle. 

Grass Monkey’s uniquely weird yet cohesive look is all made possible by its uber-talented creative director Valentino Mikalef, who is himself a renowned street artist. Grass Monkey’s one-of-a-kind interior made it one of Architectural Digest’s Most Stylish Cannabis Dispensaries in 2021.

Green Qween (Los Angeles, California)

This POC and Queer-led space might be new to Los Angeles’ cannabis scene, but it’s already making a big splash. Founded in 2022, Green Qween is focused on honoring the LGBTQIA+ community’s vital role in cannabis, tracing back to the nation’s first medical dispensaries in San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood. 

Green Qween’s love for the LGBTQIA+ community is ever-present in the shop’s decor and design. This includes everything from the vibrant mural on the outside of the dispensary’s walls to the giant disco ball and rounded shelves filled with colorful products from LGBTQIA+ companies. 

Superette (Toronto, ON, Canada)

Despite being united by the singular theme of retro retail nostalgia — each of Superette’s four dispensary locations has a distinctly unique look.

The Annex, located in Toronto, features a green and white checkered floor with mint green walls. This picture-perfect location resembles an old-school deli or sandwich shop complete with a letter-light box menu. 

Glebe, located in Ottowa, features an eye-catching bright red storefront. Step in through the vending machine-like front door right into what looks like an ice cream parlor. Take a closer look at the menu and you’ll see that the ice cream flavors listed are actually different strains!  

No other dispensary on this list commits to its theme quite like Superette.

Silverpeak Dispensary (Aspen, Colorado)

Nestled in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains, Silverpeak Dispensary is equal parts cozy and sophisticated. Located in downtown Aspen, Silverpeak’s flagship store provides a brief respite from the bustling streets of the popular ski town. At first glance, Silverpeak’s outside seems almost unremarkable. Step inside, however, and you’re instantly teleported into what resembles the midcentury safehouse of a spy on a mission. 

The shop’s interior is sleek and defined by its warm wood tones. The minimalist dispensary design emphasizes the beautiful dried buds with their exquisite green color displayed around the shop. To top it all off, the location is illuminated by the soft light of a stunning skylight.

Gotham (New York, New York)

Gotham is the newest dispensary and perhaps the most creative design concept on the list. Founded in May of 2023, Gotham’s 2 story space features expertly curated cannabis offerings as well as fashion and lifestyle products.

This shop is about as minimalist as it gets, with a tree in the middle of the shop acting as the sole focal point. This is by design, as Gotham also acts as a rotating art gallery and social event space. That means Gotham is as much a community space as it is a dispensary — letting NYC’s rich culture take center stage.