Keshawn Warner, co-founder of Dazed in Massachusetts and New York.
Dazed Cannabis opened the first and only adult-use cannabis dispensary in Monson, Massachusetts, after showing proven success in key locations. The Black- and veteran-owned cannabis brand was founded by Keshawn Warner, hailing from Harlem, as well as business partners Rich Rainone and Chris Vianello.
Dazed had already opened a location in Holyoke in August 2021, as well as another high-profile location at Union Square in New York City in 2022, after receiving one of the state’s initial Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses. The New York City location was the eighth licensed dispensary to open in New York state and fifth in the city’s five boroughs, New York Business Journal reported. Within the first year of opening in New York, the prime location grossed around $1.2 million.
So how did Dazed go about opening the new location in Monson? They helped rebrand the area by breathing life into it with a cleaner look.
Dazed replaced the Magic Lantern adult men’s club, a local strip club that closed up shop in 2022. Dazed replaced the vintage "topless" sign that once glowed over Route 20, and has done so since 1969. Today you’ll see a bright-pink Dazed sign instead.
The opening of Dazed Monson is just the beginning: Dazed plans “a massive brand expansion” with plans for several more dispensaries on the East Coast.
Dazed co-founder Keshawn Warner.
Warner explained his backstory in an essay published in Business Insider, detailing his turning point, getting arrested for trying to buy cannabis in 2008, in the height of the stop-and-frisk era. It turned out to be a baited sting operation, and Warner ended up spending the night in a paddy wagon. But even worse, his arrest haunted him every time he tried to apply for a job.
The incident only pushed him harder, and things are different now for Warner, who is putting everything he’s got into the legal adult-use industry in Massachusetts and New York.
“It's a really special thing to be on the ground floor of an emerging industry, bringing something new to the community for the first time,” Warner tells Forbes when asked about the new location in Monson. “Our goal at Dazed Cannabis is to be much more than a dispensary, we're a lifestyle brand. A destination for cannabis enthusiasts. Cannabis has so much culture and history, we're proud to be part of the legal cannabis movement and we're just getting started.”
Dazed Monson is unique in the fact that it's helping to cultivate a more wholesome image for the local community.
Left to right: Dazed associates Alejandra Beccera C., Inessa Mack, and friend.
“We're excited about the Dazed Monson location because it's a cannabis dispensary desert and a commuter highway,” Warner says. “So we get to provide a premium and convenient experience to our customers.”
The strip club that formerly occupied the premises was one of many businesses in the vicinity that didn’t survive the pandemic.
“But what really drew us to this location is that the building was a pretty iconic local strip club called the ‘Magic Lantern’ that closed during COVID,” Warner says. “Bringing new life to this space, where so many good times have been had, is special in and of itself. We're going to do it justice!”
Last November, on Veterans Day, Dazed provided giveaways for patrons who furnished a military ID, shortly after opening doors at the brand’s Union Square location.
The brand’s expansion on the East Coast shows how things can be done the right way when it comes to the growing cannabis industry.
"Our mission is to offer a curated selection of the finest cannabis the state has to offer in an uplifting and educational environment that is centered on community," Warner said in the announcement. “As a brand firmly rooted in nostalgia and experience it's only right that we're ushering in a new era for the Magic Lantern, where many good times were had. We're thrilled to be passing on the torch and serving the community in a new way."
