Euflora’s stores resemble technology retailers. Photo by Adam Larkey Photography.
By Patrick Wagner
DENVER — Euflora has often been called the Apple Store of cannabis because of its open atmosphere, tech-driven retail and modern allure. The chain of retail locations now includes two storefronts in Aurora, Colorado and one inside Denver’s 16th Street Mall.
Euflora co-owner Jamie Perino never set out to become the first retailer to break into the swanky downtown tourist market, but her investment inadvertently lead to her becoming one of the most prolific marijuana merchants in the state. For Perino, the marijuana business was just a side investment while the housing market recovered from its 2007 crash.
“I spent a lot of time spinning my wheels in the building industry after the market crash in 2007,” Perino explained. It was a Perino’s business partner who convinced her to invest in the cannabis industry.
“It was actually my intention never to do this full time. I was planning to keep working in the building industry and do this as a part-time gig, but then it turned into more than full time,” she said.
After deciding to venture into the new industry, Perino made headlines for being the first retailer to open her doors to the masses of foot traffic that flow through Denver’s city center — a feat she attributes to sheer perseverance. But those headlines changed once the doors opened to show that Euflora wasn’t the typical, single file, wait-and-pay retailer that had been opening all over the city.
The Apple Store comparison is immediately apt when looking inside any of the Euflora locations; clean tabletops adorned with glowing tablets and jars of cannabis fill the room while staff roam the floor looking to answer questions. Customers can walk into the airy, 6,000-square-foot Denver location and wander from table to table looking, smelling and reading about the products without worrying about the next person in line.
“It set us apart, especially for the tourist industry,” Perino said. “A lot of times you get people who are unfamiliar with the products and they’re nervous or scared and when they come in through our doors and it’s bright and it’s airy and there’s music playing, you feel more like you’re going shopping than going to buy marijuana.”