Verano Tests 'Bodega' Concept In Arizona

Forbes

24-06-2025

A rendering of Verano's new "bodega-style" store.
Most cannabis consumers are familiar with the shopping experience typically found at a licensed dispensary. Regulations differ state-to-state, but in general, customers are kept separate from product until the actual purchase takes place.
Part of the reasoning behind this restrictive format is loss-prevention and product tracking. State regulations, particularly those in states that were early to legalization, often emphasis securing product, so that it does not go out the back door and onto the illicit market.
But that concern may be starting to diminish as more state markets came online, and prices dropped in maturing markets, undercutting the appeal of illicit product.
Verano, a multi-state operator, is planning to test those waters, with the unveiling of what it calls a 'bodega-style' dispensary at its Zen Leaf location in Phoenix-Cave Creek. The grand re-opening of the reconfigured dispensary on June 27 is part of a two-day Summer Festival, which will feature DJs, local artisan pop-ups, food trucks, a mobile consumption lounge and a giveaway for the first 50 customers on each day.
'The dynamic cannabis landscape requires constant innovation and differentiation to push the boundaries of possibility, and today's unveiling of a completely new dispensary shopping experience at Zen Leaf Cave Creek delivers on that mission,' said Robert Cohen, Verano Executive Vice President of Retail Strategy in a released statement.
Verano operates eight dispensaries throughout Arizona, while also operating in 13 other states, under the Zen Leaf and MÜV brands. If its new bodega-style dispensary is successful, the company plans to convert more of their Arizona shops into the new format, before considering a similar move in other states, depending on what local regulations allow.
The inside of the new shop days before its grand reopening on June 27.
"Our initial intention is to scale the bodega-style concept across our eight Arizona dispensaries following what we anticipate will be a successful rollout at Zen Leaf Cave Creek, and from there, the opportunity for other states that may not currently allow this concept to consider the benefits bodega-style shopping offers consumers/patients, businesses and communities/state from a convenience, freedom and revenue POV," said Verano spokesperson Steve Mazeika.
Ironically, bodega-style cannabis often referred to the format of quasi-legal gray market shops that have been a fixture of New York City for decades, and became more common after the state legalized adult-use in early 2021 and before the first legal sale from a dispensary took place in December, 2022.
In that context, bodega-style usually meant small storefront that sold snacks and drinks along with cannabis. At this point, cannabis was still illegal to sell, but not to possess, so most of the product was kept behind counters or in glass cases.
Similarly, many states without legal adult-use cannabis have seen hemp markets flourish as an after-effect of the 2018 Farm Bill, which made most hemp-derived cannabinoids legal, such as those that were just protected in Texas by Governor Greg Abbott's June 22 veto of a hemp ban.
Given the lack of comprehensive regulation for hemp shops in many states, those retail locations are often similar to what Verano is introducing in Arizona. Products can be perused on shelves, with the difference being that they also often comingle with other quasi-legal or as-yet-unregulated products such as kratom or various types of mushroom-derived products.
Early medical states, such as Maine and California initially allowed consumers to purchase cannabis deli-style, which means product was kept in large jars, and individual orders were weighed out and packaged on the spot.
This method allows customers to see and smell their flower before they purchase, but that style is also more tedious for the retailer and creates more opportunity for waste when left with a layer of unwanted shake at the bottom of spent jars.
Oklahoma's medical market exploded fast under relatively light regulations. In recent years the Sooner State has cracked down on its market amid numerous reports of illicit grow operations in licensed facilities.
As of June 1, 2025 stores in that state are actually no longer allowed to sell deli-style, with the state opting for pre-packaging requirements.
Connecticut, Illinois, New Jersey, Missouri, Alaska, Colorado, Maryland and New Mexico are among the states with legal adult-use that also required pre-sealed packaging.
In the other direction, some states are starting to allow deli-style, much like Oregon, Arizona and Michigan.
High Profile x Budega, which has three locations in Boston, Massachusetts, is a rare exception for its state in that it offers deli-style product.
As the industry becomes more normalized and illicit trade between states diminishes, more regulators may consider relaxing requirements for retail models.