More dispensaries are continuing to open in New Jersey, like the Black underground legacy to legal owned Kota Canna in Plainfield and the local woman-owned Lady L in Jersey City.

After so many openings, there are 331 dispensaries in the Garden State, according to the new Heady NJ Finder Directory!

Kota Canna Dispensary Opens in Plainfield

The Black, local, underground legacy to legal owned Kota Canna dispensary recently opened in Plainfield in Union County.

“I ain’t gonna lie. I really didn’t think I was going to get opened,” Kota Canna CEO Shawn “First” Thorne noted. “…I’m really happy I’m at this stage.”

He noted it took 3 years to open. So far, it has been slow and steady.

“The goal was to get out of the streets a bit,” Thorne noted. “…I’ve been selling bud for at least two decades.”

Previously, he told Heady NJ that the place is named after his daughter, Dakota.

The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJ-CRC) awarded them a legal annual dispensary license needed to open in January 2024.

Colorful Legacy to Legal Feel

Kota Canna makes the most of the prohibition against the basic ability to see in a store with colorful graffiti on the tinted windows and some music playing outside.

Unfortunately, political moderates and normies were afraid of the delicate minds of children seeing a Schedule I narcotic illegal drug being sold with no problems. So, it’s weird with store windows you can’t see in.

Kota Canna is a very colorful place. Inside, it has a very large mural that features a Pac-Man-like cartoon with the name Pot Boyz.

“My whole life I been selling packs,” Thorne explained. “I would go pick up laundry bags. And we had 10, 15 pounds of haze in laundry bags.”

He wants to make his old legacy brand, Pot Boyz, into the legal market with flower next spring 2026 called “Fried Sauce.”

Thorne noted the mural also has the Plainfield City bird of a cardinal as a sign of his local pride. The art also includes a painting of an astronaut the noted local musician George Clinton of Parliament-Funkadelic used on flyers.

Another fun touch was that ordering tablets were in old pay phone kiosks with some fun graffiti to decorate them.

“Back in the day, you had to use the phone to call your weed man,” he noted.

Legal Weed Deals

Thorne has been working hard at marketing Kota Canna, including having reasonable prices, a longtime concern among NJ cannabis consumers.

“Now I can hopefully break the stigma that’s associated with dispensaries having overpriced mid-quality bud. I did my best to curate our menu,” he said.

“My legacy experience is coming into play with our price points,” Thorne added. “I don’t care how much other dispensaries are charging. I’m here for my community bro.”

“We’re matching the streets now man,” he declared.

“…You gotta lose a little to win a lot,” Thorne argued. “My knowledge from the legacy market helps a lot.”

Kota Canna had some good deals with some affordable flower from Multi-State Operators (MSO).

He said the cultivator versus strain matters a lot in the end. Thorne also noted the importance of the smell of weed due to terpenes and cannabinoids.

While others are greatly concern about competition from others, he was not.

“I wish every dispensary in Plainfield the best. That’s not my concern man,” Thorne said.

Quality Brands

Kota Canna had a variety of brands, including some that Heady NJ hadn’t seen as many quietly get it the market. For example, Jersey Strong is a local cultivator also based in Plainfield that was on display.

In addition, they had many interesting newer brands like the Pre-Roll King of Jersey joints and gummies, Cheeba Chews gummies, and Major, which makes small drinks that have 100 mg of THC. So, they’re like a small shot bottles more than an intoxicating hemp seltzer drink, which is more like a light beer.

Notably, Kota Canna also has a bud bar where you can smell some of the brands for sale.

Big Dreams

Like many who make some progress, Thorne is ambitious and wants to grow his company in addition to having his own flower in the market.

“If Jersey allows me to do three, we’ll do 3,” he explained. “If we’re lucky enough to go to a different state with it.”

It’s easier to infuse values into a small company that grows than to try to reform a shady corporation.

Plainfield and Cannabis

He is also eager to appeal to those in surrounding towns.

“We’re changing that narrative. Plainfield is becoming the place to go. We got luxury apartments opening up. We got restaurants opening up… I’m happy to be part of this new fabric….,” Thorne explained.

Plainfield Mayor Adrian Mapp was an early advocate for legalization as a local official. It’s been part of an overall economic revitalization strategy. Notably, his wife Amelia became an NJ-CRC Commissioner.

So now there are many dispensaries that have opened in Plainfield. For example, the similarly local Black-owned Plant Base dispensary is very close to them near the train station. It is a roomy place with a chill atmosphere.

So it seems there might be too many dispensaries in Plainfield after ambitious entrepreneurs from elsewhere opened dispensaries. In fact, Plainfield was the site of Royal M, which closed after less than a year after opening to great fanfare, including a speech from Mapp. The celebrity-owned Hashstoria in Newark similarly opened and closed after 8 months.

Lady L Dispensary Opens in Jersey City

The local, independent woman-owned Lady L dispensary recently opened on the West Side of Jersey City in North Jersey and has been slowly building momentum.

“We want our shop to reflect the people we’re here to serve,” said founder and CEO Lili Hollandt. “That’s why we’re rolling things out slowly, listening closely, learning, and leading with free delivery from the start. We’re proud to make cannabis shopping easier from the beginning.”

“It’s been a great 5 months,” she said about being open.

Notably, they’re getting more and more older women and yoga moms. Hollandt noted that some customers are de facto caregivers helping sickly people.

Lady L is unique since it is working with the licensed Weedies delivery company in Essex and Bergen Counties, along with Bayonne.

Lili thought Lady L, which is named after her, was distinctive since it’s not a weed reference.

Lively Design

Lady L dispensary was designed to feel bold and welcoming.

“We want it to be like you’re coming into our living room,” Hollandt said.

She did not want it to be intimidating and cold. Sometimes customers feel very unwelcome or oversold elsewhere, she argued.

“It’s a much more relaxed feel,” Hollandt said.

General Manager Brendan O’Neal said their budtenders care more than indifferent mercenaries at other places.

Hollandt explained they work to empower and keep their employees happy. They also have a small team to keep expenses low.

She is eager to hold events at Lady L. So they’re trying to pioneer a cannabis consumption bus every few Saturdays to circumvent consumption laws.

Notably, they also have a backyard where they can hold a party as well.

Curated Menu

Lady L offers a thoughtfully curated and growing selection of cannabis products for the canna-curious and longtime connoisseurs of the sacred herb.

It’s also a smaller curated menu to be responsive to customers and to keep their flower fresh.

Hollandt was happy they were selling many underground legacy to legal strains like poorly named but very effective Green Crack.

“We’re as close to the legacy price as possible,” she added.

Hollandt noted flower is their most popular product, followed by edibles, joints, and vapes. This is similar to other dispensary sales.

She said that the South Jersey locally owned Happy Farmer is popular, along with MSO brands like Rhythm.

Notably, North Lake Supply has a Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) for $30. RSO is a great medicine that helped noted NJ cannabis advocate Patrick Duff survive cancer.

O’Neal noted it’s hard to show customers weed for sale by opening jars the way one does in smoke shops and the underground.

Hollandt acknowledged the great competition in the area.

“It’s stiff, and more is coming,” she noted.

Hollandt explained the need to stay flexible to compete.

While building a successful dispensary business in a city is hard, she said she knew how gut-wrenching it is for struggling entrepreneurs who will never open.

Ownership Background

Hollandt said weed has helped her as a de facto patient for female issues. It has made her passionate about the power of the plant. She is very feminist-minded and wants to help other women.

Previously, Hollandt worked in marketing and advertising before getting into cannabis, and has continued doing so as the store has been growing.

She is a Bulgarian American who arrived in the United States in 1999 and has been living on the West Side nearby.

The NJ-CRC approved its license in February 2024. The Jersey City Cannabis Board approved them in November 2022.