Here at Blake Jarrett and Company, we thrive on a good design challenge. There is nothing more rewarding then seeing the magic of a doodle become a real-life, tangible thing that consumers can interact with and experience.
Superette, the hottest new Cannabis shop in Toronto – and our customer – delivered one of the biggest highs when seeing the retail design doodles come to life in a big way! Drummond Munroe, Co-Founder of Superette had a vision for his retro Cannabis shops. Their first location on Rideau Street in Ottawa was having great success. However, Drummond knew there was an opportunity to refine the design for future stores to even further enhance the Cannabis retail experience. After a few inspirational conversations, Blake Jarrett and Company was chosen as a retail design partner to help elevate the retail experience for future stores. We did just that with their latest store on Yonge Street in the Toronto neighborhood of Summerhill, with more to follow.
The inspiration for the store design was derived from Drummond’s big vision of a retro diner, supermarket, flower shop look and feel. These were unconventional cannabis retail designs, and while the Cannabis sector was new to Blake Jarrett and Company, our team was thrilled to take on this new challenge. The vision was clear, and we knew it was going to be a journey from conception to completion.
Working with Dani Hall of Design of Brand (DOB) and Trevor McArthur of CMG it wasn’t always easy wrapping our heads around some of the eccentric ideas. Sometimes, with custom display manufacturing there is a natural tendency to resort to the conventional, in this case we were lucky to have joined a team that was committed to excellence and committed to creating a unique retail experience. From bud flower walls to digital menu kiosks, island coolers, and merchandise fixtures, what we learned along the way was to expect the unexpected from Superette! A good example of this is the digital menu kiosks. We have designed and manufactured countless contemporary digital kiosks for various businesses (i.e., entertainment, retail, lottery), but we have never been asked to design and engineer one that is reminiscent of the old-school cigarette machines, chunky and old looking!
The ultimate in cannabis customer retail experience is the flower wall. We were tasked with creating an experiential bud flower wall that resembled a bodega flower shop. The wall was to be the center of attraction as well as interactive and educational for consumers. Nestled in the beautiful flower wall are 24 bud pods, custom designed and carefully engineered to showcase the bud flowers in an enclosed pod while at the same time allowing customers to get a better sense of the product. The bud pods are clear, with discreet holes so the customer can experience the distinct aroma each bud has to offer. To get a better sense, each bud pod has a retractable wire that lets customer pick up the bud pods from the flower bouquets and experience it up close and personal to help them with their cannabis journey. The whimsical customer experience is fun as well as informative. On top of that, the bud pods were designed to be functional and efficient each with it’s own humidity pack in the base to keep the buds fresh and aromatic at all times.
Since the Yonge Street location opened, we’ve seen numerous articles and social media posts, surrounding this unique cannabis retail experience at Superette. The flower wall and digital menu kiosk has created quite the buzz in the cannabis retail sector. For Blake Jarrett & Company, it’s a fantastic example of how we can take big ideas and bring them to life with an outspend execution. Blake Jarrett & Company prides itself on big ideas that work, executing our customer’s vision, and Superette demonstrates just that from doodles to execution. We can proudly say mission accomplished.
Thank you to the entire Superette team for bringing us in on this exciting project. It is our biggest retail design, custom display, and in stores fixture project within the cannabis industry to date. We are excited to work together on future projects.
All photos credit K Rocca via Superette.Share this story. Choose your platform!