NEW YORK, NEW YORK – DECEMBER 29: on December 29, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Gary Gershoff/Getty Images for Housing Works)
While New York’s adult-use cannabis market lags woefully behind expectations, the Empire State’s first licensed retailer registered $24 million in sales in its first year.
Housing Works Cannabis Co., which opened in Manhattan on December 29, 2022, averaged about $2 million per month in the past year, with its top sales day being the Friday before Memorial Day weekend, at $100,000, and its top week being the seven days leading up to Labor Day, with sales of more than $500,000. The company has also seen “a steady uptick” in online orders and deliveries, which represent 20% and 12% of sales, respectively.
With just 40 dispensaries approved to operate, Housing Works accounted for about 16% of New York’s $150 million in cannabis sales during 2023.
“Since opening our doors one year ago, we’ve been operating in somewhat of a pop-up phase, but that hasn’t stopped us from continuing to push our mission forward,” Sasha Nutgent, retail manager of Housing Works Cannabis Co., said in a press release. “I think what differentiates us is our roots in New York City — whether through our MJMondaze event series or the brands we carefully select for our menu — people know what we’re about, and our work across the community.”
Housing Works Cannabis Co. is one part of the greater Housing Works nonprofit organization, which has for more than three decades provided housing, health care and other services to New Yorkers affected by AIDS, homelessness, substance abuse and criminal justice system involvement. Proceeds from Housing Works Cannabis Co. go directly to the nonprofit organization’s mission to end social injustices through the provisioning of lifesaving services and relentless advocacy. The company enters its second year with plans to show off a renovated interior and a renewed focus on advocacy and support services for the LGBTQ+ community and those impacted by the War on Drugs.
The 2024 plan also calls for having 10 budtenders available at all times.
“Learning and growing together is really the cornerstone of Housing Works,” Nutgent said. “We do this by uplifting the voices of marginalized communities and bringing awareness to the social injustices that impact thousands of people everyday. For us, it’s in our DNA to shine that spotlight and to offer a space free of judgment.”