Planet 13, a cannabis "entertainment complex" near the Las Vegas Strip, opens Nov. 1. It will be the largest dispensary in Nevada, and this is just the first phase of development.

“The whole idea is to make this experiential for the customer, where it’s more than a traditional buying opportunity,” CEO Bob Groesbeck told the Las Vegas Sun. “It’s about getting immersed in this entire entertainment complex we have to offer.”

The goal, supported by Las Vegas' thriving tourism industry, is to see 5,000 daily customers at the mega dispensary, Groesbeck said.

See our original report on Planet 13 below.

***

Originally published July 24, 2018

Planet 13 has ambitious plans to build the world’s largest dispensary in Las Vegas, with 40,000 square feet of cannabis superstore and entertainment space opening Nov. 1.

The vertically integrated cannabis company launched in 2014 and holds six active cannabis licenses in Nevada, including two for production and two for cultivation. It currently operates one dispensary that serves both the medical and adult-use markets and offers the company’s own products.

The entertainment complex will be completed and unveiled in phases, with phase one offering 40,000 square feet of multi-faceted entertainment space, including interactive attractions and more than 16,500 square feet of cannabis retail space.

Planet 13 hosted a first look event at its new site July 19, showcasing the array of special effects and features that the dispensary will offer. The superstore, located at 2548 W. Desert Inn Rd., only a few steps away from the Las Vegas Strip, will total 112,000 square feet when all phases are completed. Thirteen 15-foot tall LED lotus flowers will adorn the roof of the building as interactive art that can be controlled by visitors. A branded water feature will also greet guests outside the facility. The lobby features LED flooring that creates an interactive show as guests walk, and a glowing aerial orb show will take place high above the dispensary floor in the main portion of the complex. Guests can also enjoy several 3D visuals that will be projected onto the walls, and they can leave their mark on the facility with interactive laser graffiti. The superstore will have 45-50 registers to serve the large number of anticipated visitors.

“We’re calling it a superstore based on its sheer size because we will be the world’s largest dispensary, and of course this being the entertainment capital of the world in Las Vegas, we took priority in becoming that destination,” said David Farris, Planet 13’s director of marketing. “We wanted to make it a true Las Vegas experience and really set off all those sensory cues.”

The superstore is located in an existing building, which Planet 13 is refacing and resurfacing to bring the facility to life, Farris said. Las Vegas regulations prohibit dispensaries from setting up shop within the gaming corridor on the strip, but Planet 13 strategically found this location as close to the strip as regulations allow.

“There’s so much foot traffic, and there are 55 million tourists that come to Las Vegas a year,” Farris said. “So, we feel strongly that us being in a position that we are so close to the strip, it really makes Planet 13 Superstore compete with a lot of the destinations on the strip itself because it’s right there—it’s in walking distance.”

Planet 13 is rolling out its superstore location slowly, Farris added. “We don’t want to come out of the gates too aggressively, and I think that’s why we wanted to really tease the market a little bit with what’s to come,” he said. “I know we’ve announced the location of this dispensary and its size and its magnitude, but we’ve really held off on what that actually is going to bring and what entertainment it’s going to captivate.”

When completed, the Planet 13 superstore will serve all customers, from first-time to experienced cannabis consumers. The company has plans to build a coffee shop and store fronts within the facility to service its customers’ wide range of interests.

“Really no matter who you are, I think this will serve as a destination where you can actually go there and it’s a jaw-dropping experience where you can actually hang out and really have a presence there,” Farris said. “What … we’re working on is something that’s the first of its kind where you can actually go and experience what cannabis has to offer.”

See a slideshow of Planet 13 renderings here:

Previous Next

Images courtesy of Planet 13

SANTA CRUZ, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PRESS RELEASE--Jane Technologies, Inc., a retail tech company that has created the cannabis industry’s first ecommerce marketplace, completed a successful Series A funding round of $6 million through private investors. This comes after the rapid growth and expansion of their marketplace (iheartjane.com) to nearly 500 dispensary partners across 19 states and U.S. territories, in just over a year. The funding will help Jane continue to bring dispensaries both the latest technological advances and data analytics, while providing consumers a smarter, optimized shopping experience. 

Jane launched in April 2017, and now boasts the world’s largest real-time cannabis product inventory database. With the retail price of marijuana plummeting as low as $4.00 a gram in some markets, Jane increases dispensaries’ revenue by helping consumers discover the products on their shelves through a convenient online shopping experience. 

“Our team built the industry’s leading online marketplace by transforming brick-and-mortar storefronts into profitable click-and-mortar retailers,” said Jane CEO and Co-Founder Socrates Rosenfeld. “Our $1 per order pricing model helps dispensaries make more money using tools that provide invaluable data, increase online and in-store traffic, improve customer service and save money on time-wasting multi-platform updates. This funding allows us to continue helping our dispensary partners grow their businesses and excel in the most competitive landscapes even where retail prices continue to fall.” 

Jane is the only cannabis software with proven real-time integration into any existing point-of-sale (POS) system and has done so in more than 35 existing POS solutions in the cannabis space. This allows product updates in a matter of seconds. Jane also has the world’s largest real-time inventory product catalog, with more than 70,000 products. 

“Cansortium and Jane Technologies share a mission to bring exceptional service and innovation to all customers,” said Jose Hidalgo, CEO of Cansortium Holdings, which operates dispensaries in Florida, Pennsylvania, California, Washington and Puerto Rico. “We pride ourselves on being first-in-class in this industry, and Cansortium’s integration with Jane gives our customers a seamless and convenient online ordering experience, while also reaching potential new users and additional markets.” 

Jane’s consumer user base is growing 40 percent month over month, and they’re spending more too. According to a study by Headset, the median spend for a cannabis consumer in a recreational dispensary is $33. The average cart size for a Jane customer is $73. And Jane customers have a higher retention rate as well--an average of 50 percent compared to the industry average of 40 percent (Headset). 

“Cannabis is not only undergoing a profound change in public perception but also a change in the ability to build great companies and create a new industry,” said Scott Stern, Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management. “Jane Technologies is at the forefront of the intersection between cannabis and technology, with breakthrough retail innovation with the potential to offer novel and lasting value to all participants in this emerging marketplace.” 

A Michigan judge has once again halted the state’s self-imposed deadline to issue licenses to medical marijuana businesses. The Oct. 31 deadline, now lifted, was expected to force more than 200 dispensaries to close across the state.

The state had complied with a similar court order, which extended a Sept. 15 deadline.

Court of Claims Judge Stephen Borello’s temporary restraining order this week will allow those businesses to continue operating for the time being, even without a formal license to do so. The judge called the Oct. 31 licensing deadline “arbitrary and capricious.”

Borello will provide an update to the case on Nov. 9. The lead plaintiff is First Class Inc., a Lansing-based business with local approval for a processing facility (but no state approval yet). “These facilities will be forced to close their doors without any good reason, and they face the very real risk that they will not be able to reopen at all, even if their applications are approved by [the Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA)] at some point in the future,” the business stated via its lawsuit against the state of Michigan.

LARA’s medical marijuana licensing board will meet Nov. 8, and some license approvals are expected. Hundreds of applications, all told, from every category of cannabis business, await word from LARA. So far, 64 medical marijuana licenses, including 37 dispensaries, have been approved by the state since the application deadline of Feb. 15. The state initially received 804 applications.

Top photo courtesy of Adobe Stock

BERKELEY, Calif., Oct. 30, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- PRESS RELEASE -- After serving Oahu's patients for over a year, Steep Hill Hawaii, Hawaii's first cannabis testing lab to be State of Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO/IEC 17025:2005) certified, is expanding to the Big Island.

Dana Ciccone, owner and CEO of Steep Hill Hawaii, announced the opening of Steep Hill Hawaii's second location. "We are thrilled to open up our new location in Kailua Kona, Hawaii. We have been working closely with the Department of Health and we look forward to working together with the large patient population and the two new dispensaries opening very soon. Our focus continues to be quick turnaround, good service, and competitive prices," Ciccone said.

Dr. Andrew Rosenstein, CEO of Steep Hill, said, "In extending its services, Steep Hill Hawaii is committed to providing safe medicine and high quality testing to Hawaii's patient community. Dana and the Steep Hill Hawaii team have worked hard to open up this new location and will continue to support cultivators and dispensaries in this emerging market."