ConBud Delancey Street
Lower East Side, New York, NY 2023
This project was for one of the first New York State cannabis dispensaries, for our client and friend Coss Marte (who also owns ConBody). Coss and his two business partners were recipients of one of the restorative justice licenses distributed by the state.
This retail space focused on creating a brand environment that told the restorative justice story while also imbuing it with a vibe of fun and celebration. After all, the brand’s slogan is “still your dealer”. To do that, we focused on the texture of the Lower East Side itself (layers upon layers of paint and texture). We also focused on Coss’s story. Coss sold cannabis on a milk crate outside of Lower East Side bodegas; he was sent to prison for selling two nickel bags of cannabis. The store’s sculptural centerpiece is a new modular retail display composed of custom crates that echo Coss’s crate, painted many shades of green (to reference both cannabis and the color of that incarcerated individuals wear in New York State prison system’s). This system is a brand element as well as a flexible display system for this newly emerging retail type.
Other elements of the shop include a large video display wall, a graffiti artist painted phone booth (for cop-and-go pickup orders), rolldown gates by the Lower East Side artist Hektad (painted his signature hearts in many colors of green).
The grand exterior sign wraps the corner of Delancey and Orchard, and includes grids of the many colors of green. The intent was to have it blend with the street painting and texture that is the Lower East Side’s most recognizable visual features.
Photographs by Alexander Severin