The Flowery, a Florida-based medical dispensary, opened its newest legal adult-use cannabis dispensary in Williamsburg on Dec. 20, marking the company’s fourth location in New York City.

This opening at 692 Grand St. marks part of The Flowery’s continued expansion in New York, where it aims to set a new benchmark for cannabis retail.

Founded in 2019 as a medical marijuana delivery service in Homestead, Florida, The Flowery now operates in 10 regions across the state. In New York, the company partners with dispensary license holders to support their business ventures.

Ilya Schmidt, vice president of sales and retail operations at The Flowery, told Brooklyn Paper the plan is to open four more locations in New York by the summer of 2025.

“I think New York is desperate for quality and a good cannabis experience and brands that are ingrained in the culture,” Schmidt said. “We are quality first.”

The Flowery is an integrated medical marijuana operator, handling every aspect of the business, from growing plants to selling medical cannabis, as required by Florida’s vertical integration rule. Schmidt explained that it’s this expertise The Flowery brings to its New York customers, particularly those using marijuana for medicinal purposes.

“We hang our hat on having the best quality because we understand what [medicinal marijuana] helps with. And that educational piece we give to the community and our staff is so important,” Schmidt said. “We’re not just growing marijuana for fun. We’re growing it with a purpose because we want it to impact people in a positive way.”

Donovan Garrison, one of The Flowery’s co-founders, emphasized the importance of cannabis for treating a range of medical conditions. Garrison told Brooklyn Paper that his brother, a former Iraq war veteran, believed marijuana helped alleviate PTSD symptoms. When his brother passed away in 2017, the family continued his legacy by opening The Flowery.

“[My brother] was scared to smoke because he would lose his military benefits, but he thought that if he was able to get a license, it would help veterans. So we kind of took that one as a family,” Garrison explained.

Garrison acknowledged that he used to be “one of those people” who didn’t believe cannabis had any medicinal purpose.

“My wife started using cannabis around 2010, and it changed her life,” Garrison said. “I truly believe in it as medicine, and, yes, if you want to chill out and use it as recreational, it’s your business.”

The Flowery carries a variety of brands, including Jaunty, Doobie Labs, Danks, and Supernaturals. Products range from pre-rolls and edibles to tinctures, concentrates, and flowers.

Nicholas Huminski, cultivator at Supernaturals New York, one of the first adult-use conditional cultivators (AUCC) in the state, attended the opening and provided samples of the company’s products. Supernaturals offers whole-flower pre-rolls and a line of THC-infused herbal blend gummies with minor cannabinoid infusions.

Supernaturals grows its cannabis plants on a 50-acre farm in the Hudson Valley and prides itself on setting the standard for sustainably grown cannabis.

“We utilize organic practices. We actually have a pair of sheep. So our sheep graze and fertilize our soil in the off-season, and then we use OMRI-certified organic materials. There’s no pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides ever used on the farm,” Huminski said.

General manager Kepler Vilsaint told Brooklyn Paper that his goal is to create an environment where customers feel comfortable.

“[Customers] can spend their money anywhere,” he said. “I want to create a culture where people want to shop here because of the knowledge we have, how we treat people [and] the energy we create.”