Boutique-style pot dispensary touts a unique consultation experience

Marketing Manager Matthew Janz at Apothecarium in Las Vegas, Nev. on July 27, 2017.

A walk into Apothecarium Cannabis Dispensary might as well feel like a stroll into the lobby of a Las Vegas hotel reception area or the front counter of a gourmet take-out restaurant.

As many as 12 budtenders stand behind three long panels of wood-grain reception desks around the perimeter of the 3,000-square-foot dispensary, with restaurant-style menus placed in front of them under reading lights. A large chandelier hangs from the center of the shopping area at the west valley dispensary, located at 7885 W. Sahara Ave.

Unlike most valley dispensaries where hundreds of marijuana products — from flower and edibles to concentrates and lotions — sit on display in the main shopping area, there’s no weed in sight at Apothecarium until after customers have consulted with budtenders and are ready to make their purchase.

Apothecarium prides itself on one-on-one customer consultations for both its medical patients and recreational buyers alike.

“Our philosophy is we never end a conversation, we never rush a consultation,” said Matthew Janz, the assistant manager. “We know this can be kind of an intimidating process for some people, so we encourage curiosity and that people ask questions.”

Apothecarium Tour

The exterior of Apothecarium in Las Vegas, Nev. on July 27, 2017. Launch slideshow »

Customers first walk up to one of the budtenders standing at the desk and are given a one-on-one consultation, discussing their intentions for using the plant and the effect they’re looking for. While some consultations are as short as 10 seconds for returning patients who already know what they want, other consultations have lasted as long as two hours for those making their first purchases or looking for new weed products to try, Janz said.

Most budtender-to-customer conversations last 10 minutes to an hour for first-time buyers, and five to 15 minutes for returning buyers on average, Janz said. Apothecarium also offers a private consultation room, where customers can discuss more in detail their intentions for using the plant and the effects they want.

The attention to detailed service seems to be working.

One month has passed since legal recreational sales began in Nevada, but more than two dozen shoppers were waiting outside the Apothecarium Cannabis Dispensary to make it feel like the opening night of recreational weed sales.

“It has been consistent, and it’s actually growing slightly every week,” said Foster Boone, the dispensary manager. “We thought it was going to level out after this first week, and this has been really unexpected.”

It opened in February 2016 after owner Ryan Hudson found inspiration for the plant during trips to California dispensaries to deal with back pain.

That passion led Hudson to open a sister store to the San Francisco Apothecarium dispensary here in Las Vegas, with a unique focus on the well-being and pot education for those who walk through its doors, Boone said.

“He found other shops were really focused on the heavy aspect of business and less on the experience where you get a knowledgeable consultation,” Boone said. “So that became his mission — to create an open space that’s knowledgeable that provides people with the education and the one-on-one consultation.”

The dispensary also offers open-to-the-public education seminars in its consultation room, about twice monthly, Janz said. Previous speakers have included representatives from Dixie Elixirs and Vert Edibles speaking on topics like proper usage for edibles and concentrates. A high demand for the seminars and small amount of space forces the dispensary to cut off the number of attendees at 60 — a number reached for every seminar, Boone said.

“The more we can dispel the myths about cannabis, the more people will realize the sky is not going to fall,” Boone said. “It can be a really positive thing for the community.”

Las Vegan Paul Bounds, 57, a medical card holder, lives near the dispensary and several others in the surrounding area, but chooses Apothecarium because he said medical patients don’t have long waits for service.

Despite the business increasing its weed-seeking clientele nearly tenfold since recreational sales began, Apothecarium has maintained the same brief waiting time for its medical patients, Bounds said.

“It’s like going to see a show and being a VIP — you don’t really wait in line,” Bounds said. “It’s still only one or two patients in front of me.”

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