The apple store look fails in cannabis dispensary design, because it’s so basic. Not innovative, provocative, rebellious in the least or even mood evoking. It’s just a white box.

It feels sterile. Clinical. Two adjectives we definitely do not want used to describe our retail cannabis dispensary.

New trends in dispensary design are attracting more and more shoppers, more loyalty and just overall better shopping experiences- top of the trends is something called resimercial.

What’s ‘resimercial’ dispensary design? The easy description is ‘traditionally residential furnishings and feel in a commercial space.’

So resi-mercial becomes a retail space with some familiar features of a residence. (It’s basically the opposite of the sterile apple store.) Taking a lame, sad office full of gray cubicles and flipping it into a we-work space that will make you feel like you’re at home, but better. Because you’re not at home. Resimercial is becoming a bigger and bigger trend in retail dispensary design that we can’t (and don’t want) to ignore.

Many designers are toting ‘resimercia’l design as a means to boosting productivity by increasing the relaxing home vibes that can often lead to greater productivity. Ie: you’ll do better and better quality work when you’re not in a gray cube. It makes sense. We proved it in most instances while working from home when we had to. Depending on what study you read, productivity working from home increased 5-7% when working from home. This applies to customer shopping habits too.

What about customer spending in a relaxing, home-like atmosphere? How does it relate to cannabis sales? Do customers spend/buy/review highly more? Yes. The more comfortable the shopper is, the more likely they’re going to open up to new products, try something new, take advice from the staff, buy additional products to enhance what they came in for and also simply spend more time in the store.

There are lots of ways to achieve a home-like environment in a retail dispensary. One great way is actually in the dispensary floor plan. This happens to be one of my favorite dispensary layouts, which takes the concept to an entirely new level. We designed the dispensary based on a residential home concept. Each product category is grouped cleverly by where you might enjoy the product. Example: In the “dining room” you will find all the edibles. In the “bath” you will find self care bombs and lotions. In the greenhouse, flower. This is resi-retail in a maximum form and it really lends itself so well to cannabis and the unique shopping experience your customers are seeking out.

Other great ways to amp up the residential feel of your retail dispensary is layering textures and textiles, layering lighting and adding comfortable seating groups that encourage conversation. Area rugs, side tables and other familiar comforts help remove the clinical feel of medical and adult use dispensaries.

Which is the goal, right? More relaxed shoppers equals more sales which equals more longevity in the cannabis industry.