![](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/COOKIES-DISPENSARY-MELROSE-EXTERIOR-1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n
Melrose Avenue is known as one of Los Angeles\u2019s most famous streets, and for good reason. The bustling strip that cuts across LA provides its visitors with shops and institutions dedicated to an multitude of cultures, from comedy to fashion \u2014 and now, cannabis.<\/p>\n
Recently joining the nearby boutiques and improv classes is\u00a0Cookies Melrose<\/a>, an offshoot of its sister store\u00a0Cookies Maywood<\/a>\u00a0and one of Bay Area rapper\u00a0Berner\u2019s<\/a> chain of retail cannabis shops located throughout California. The Melrose location opened in October 2018 and, unlike the clothing and accessory-based\u00a0Cookies SF<\/a>, it actually sells cannabis as opposed to only streetwear.<\/p>\n The store stands out on the street with its well-known light blue color and neon signs emblazoned with the friendly \u201cCookies\u201d font \u2014 a sight that old-school Angelenos could never have dreamed of, given that dispensaries were not even permitted to display their names on storefronts during California\u2019s medical marijuana-only era.<\/p>\n Today, however, the Cookies store boldly states its existence in the same manner as neighboring brands such as Nike or Urban Outfitters, and serves the same customers hailing from Beverly Hills, West Hollywood and several more adjacent neighborhoods.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re on historic, iconic Melrose,\u201d explains managing partner Daniel Dvorsky. \u201cWe\u2019re in the cut.\u201d<\/p>\n Walking into Cookies is a retail experience that\u2019s both calming and exciting at the same time. The modern design, soothing colors and easily accessible store layout give customers a welcome feeling, even if they might feel a bit overwhelmed by the amazing selection of flowers, concentrates, edibles and accessories.<\/p>\n And just like their mainstream neighbors, Cookies Melrose offers products you just can\u2019t find at your local department store.<\/p>\n \u201cWe sell whatever all the competition is selling, but what we do differently is sell exotic strains that are only particular to us,\u201d says budtender Charles Casabar. \u201cWe started the game, nobody did this before us.\u201d<\/p>\n Vartan Kalousdian, general manager of Cookies Melrose, says the store makes sure to always have renowned Cookies genetics strains for sale, alongside quality bud from other breeders.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u201cWhether it\u2019s London Poundcake #75, Gelatti strains or Gello 42, those are the main staple strains that we always try to keep consistent in the store,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Make no mistake, the Cookies Fam genetics are what separates this shop from the average dispensary. While most dispensaries rely on independent growers for their stock, Cookies Melrose cultivates its own top-shelf strains in a state-of-the-art growing facility located at Maywood, their first LA County location.<\/p>\n \u201cSome of our best strains are grown and cultivated in Cookies Maywood,\u201d says Dvorsky. \u201cIt\u2019s cured there, it\u2019s trimmed there, and it goes from there to here in record time. So you think about freshness and quality, it\u2019s kind of hard to beat that in the middle of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n The Cookies crew proudly boasts excellent one-of-a-kind strains, but visitors can always pick up the one tried-and-true strain that launched their success: a variation of the popular Girl Scout Cookies hybrid that most people claim as the original.<\/p>\n \u201cWe got the classic Cookies. This is what started the game,\u201d says Casabar. \u201cThere\u2019s like a million dispensaries that say they have \u2018Berner\u2019s Cookies,\u2019 but that\u2019s like wearing fake Yeezys.\u201d<\/p>\n Cookies Melrose has fully embraced the idea of recreational cannabis, as it resembles more of a standard retailer instead of a patients\u2019 group or health collective. The store features separate sections dedicated to flowers, extracts, edibles and vape products, making for easier shopping. Almost all strains are priced similarly at around $60 per eighth of cannabis, and just like most retailers, the price does not include the 15 percent excise tax and 9.5 percent sales tax levied by the state of California. Medical patients with a county medical marijuana identification card are exempt from paying sales tax, however.<\/p>\n While that may be burdensome to customers paying cash, the store offers an ATM machine and accepts debit and credit cards. Online ordering is also available for those on the go.<\/p>\n The excitement is just beginning, as Cookies has future plans to launch its very own line of extracts featuring their famed genetics.<\/p>\n \u201cJust be patient and you\u2019re going to see some very unique and very limited edition products here,\u201d Dvorsky says.<\/p>\n The experience at Cookies Melrose is one all cannabis aficionados should enjoy, as its fearless leader Berner has worked with weed just as long as, if not longer, than he\u2019s been a hip-hop artist.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe most artists become cannabis advocates, but Berner is the other way around,\u201d says Dvorsky.\u201cCannabis has always been in his life and his career path.\u201d<\/p>\n TELL US<\/strong>, have you visited a retail cannabis shop yet?<\/p>\n Originally published in Issue 37 of Cannabis Now.\u00a0LEARN MORE<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n The post Cannabis on Melrose<\/a> appeared first on Cannabis Now<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Melrose Avenue is known as one of Los Angeles\u2019s most famous streets, and for good reason. The bustling strip that cuts across LA provides its visitors with shops and institutions dedicated to an multitude of cultures, from comedy to fashion \u2014 and now, cannabis. Recently joining the nearby boutiques andContinue Reading<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":100,"featured_media":36603,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3931,148,50,1266,99,141,5755,85,10190,488,11195,11196],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36602"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/100"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36602"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36602\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36604,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36602\/revisions\/36604"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36603"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36602"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36602"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36602"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cannabiscultivatornews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/COOKIES-DISPENSARY-MELROSE-EXTERIOR.jpg\")
\n
\nRead More: Cannabis on Melrose<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"