NOBO Goods recently joined the Respect My Region Podcast for a conversation about operating dispensaries, developing cannabis products, building recognizable brands, and competing in one of the country’s most aggressive retail markets.
The episode featured NOBO Marketing Manager Angela Jones and Retail Director David Melendez. Together, they gave RMR a closer look at the people, strategy, and daily work behind a cannabis company that now reaches consumers in Michigan, Colorado, Illinois, and Minnesota.
NOBO cultivates cannabis, develops proprietary genetics, creates products, operates retail stores, and supports an in-house portfolio led by brands called NOBO Signature, Mischief, and Rolling Thunder.
That combination gives NOBO several ways to build a relationship with consumers. A customer might first encounter the company through one of its dispensaries, discover a NOBO product on the menu, and eventually develop loyalty to a particular strain, edible, pre-roll, or house brand.
The RMR Podcast conversation explored what it takes to keep that larger ecosystem connected.
NOBO Has Expanded Into Four State Markets
NOBO began in Boulder, Colorado, in 2019 before establishing deeper roots in Michigan and expanding into additional regulated markets.
The company currently lists seven retail locations across four states:
- Benton Harbor, Michigan
- Edwardsburg, Michigan
- Muskegon, Michigan
- South Haven, Michigan
- Denver, Colorado
- Lakemoor, Illinois
- Northeast Minneapolis, Minnesota
Michigan remains the center of NOBO’s retail network with four active dispensaries. The company’s Denver, Lakemoor, and Minneapolis locations extend the NOBO name into three additional markets with different regulations, wholesale systems, competitive environments, and customer expectations.
According to the official NOBO locations directory, the company’s newest listed store is located at 501 First Avenue NE in Minneapolis. That addition expands NOBO’s retail presence beyond the six stores it operated across three states at the end of 2024.
Operating in four states does not mean copying the same dispensary four times.
Cannabis remains regulated at the state level, and products generally cannot move through normal interstate commerce. Flower grown in Michigan cannot simply be shipped to a NOBO store in Illinois, Colorado, or Minnesota. Each market requires its own licensed supply chain, compliant products, inventory procedures, reporting systems, and retail strategy.
The NOBO name can remain consistent, but the products on the shelves must reflect what is legally produced and distributed within each state.
Michigan Remains the Center of NOBO’s Retail Business
NOBO’s four Michigan dispensaries serve different regions and customer groups.
The Benton Harbor store operates at 129 East Main Street in the city’s downtown district. Edwardsburg is located at 69411 M-62 near the Indiana border. The Muskegon dispensary operates at 1401 East Apple Avenue, while NOBO South Haven is located at 11637 M-140 near one of western Michigan’s best-known lake communities.
Those stores give NOBO access to year-round residents, regional shoppers, visitors, and customers traveling through southwest and western Michigan.
They also operate inside one of America’s most competitive cannabis markets.
Michigan dispensaries compete through product quality, price, promotions, location, customer service, loyalty programs, menu accuracy, and brand recognition. The amount of cannabis available has helped push prices down and created significant value for consumers, but it has also made differentiation more difficult for retailers and producers.
A dispensary cannot rely exclusively on having flower, gummies, cartridges, or pre-rolls. Most competing stores already carry those categories. The difference often comes from how products are selected, priced, explained, promoted, and presented to customers.
That was an important part of the conversation with Jones and Melendez. Marketing may bring someone into a dispensary for the first time, but the retail experience determines whether that person returns.
Retail Is Still a People-Driven Business
Cannabis retail involves technology, data, inventory, and compliance, but the customer experience still depends heavily on people.
Budtenders need to understand the menu well enough to help several types of shoppers. One customer may be visiting a dispensary for the first time and need a basic explanation of product formats. Another may already know the strain, brand, terpene profile, cannabinoid ratio, and package size they want.
The store has to serve both without making the first customer feel overwhelmed or forcing the experienced shopper through an unnecessary lecture.
Retail leadership is responsible for creating that balance.
Training, communication, product knowledge, menu organization, and customer service all influence how comfortable people feel inside a dispensary. Consistency becomes even more important when the same company operates multiple stores.
Customers should recognize the NOBO experience from one location to another, even when the available products and promotions are different.
That does not require every interaction to sound scripted. It requires employees to understand the company’s standards and have enough product knowledge to make useful recommendations.
NOBO Is a Grower and Product Company
NOBO’s retail stores are only one part of the business. On its company information page, NOBO describes itself as “growers first” and says it uses organic cultivation practices, proprietary genetics, third-party testing, and cultivation facilities supported by GrowRay lighting technology.
Its investor materials describe a vertically integrated, seed-to-sale business with cultivation, distribution, retail, proprietary genetics, and in-house brands. Vertical integration gives a cannabis company more control, but it also creates more responsibility.
Growing flower requires genetics, facilities, environmental controls, plant health, harvesting, drying, curing, testing, packaging, and production planning. Turning that flower into a recognizable consumer brand requires another layer of design, positioning, pricing, marketing, education, and retail execution.
The final product has to earn its place on the shelf.
Owning dispensaries gives NOBO direct access to customer behavior and product performance. The company can see which strains move quickly, which package sizes attract repeat purchases, how promotions influence demand, and which products require more education from budtenders.
That information can help guide future cultivation and product decisions.
Three Brands Give NOBO Multiple Positions on the Shelf
NOBO’s current house of brands is built around three primary identities: NOBO Signature, Mischief, and Rolling Thunder. The company’s wholesale brand portfolio presents each line with a different purpose.
NOBO Signature
NOBO Signature represents the premium side of the portfolio. The company describes it as a small-batch line cultivated for consumers with higher expectations around flower quality. Its positioning emphasizes intentional cultivation and an elevated experience rather than aggressive value pricing.
That gives NOBO a product line for customers who care about genetics, aroma, freshness, appearance, structure, and overall flower quality.
Premium branding still has to be supported by what is inside each package. Cannabis is an agricultural product, and potency, terpene content, appearance, and yield can change from one harvest to another.
For that reason, customers should evaluate the information attached to the current batch rather than relying on testing numbers or photographs from an older release.
Mischief
Mischief gives NOBO a louder and more playful identity. The company positions the brand for both cannabis newcomers and experienced consumers who want an accessible product without the formal presentation of a luxury flower line.
That flexibility allows Mischief to participate in promotions, experiment with different products, and communicate with customers through a more energetic personality.
It also gives NOBO separation between its premium flower message and the broader part of its product portfolio. Not every customer shops according to the same priorities, and not every product needs to carry the same visual identity.
Rolling Thunder
Rolling Thunder occupies NOBO’s high-impact value position. The company describes it as a fast-acting brand designed to deliver strong value for the price. Its purpose is different from NOBO Signature. Instead of leading with small-batch luxury, Rolling Thunder is built to appeal to consumers focused on impact, accessibility, and value.
That position is especially relevant in Michigan, where price competition has become one of the defining forces in cannabis retail.
Together, the three brands give NOBO opportunities to reach premium shoppers, curious or lifestyle-driven customers, and value-focused consumers without forcing all of those audiences under one message.
Retail Data Can Support Better Brand Decisions
Owning both stores and brands can create a useful feedback loop. Retail data can show how NOBO Signature compares with other premium flower brands, whether Mischief responds well to a particular promotion, and where Rolling Thunder is attracting price-conscious customers.
That information can help the company decide what to grow, what to package, how much inventory to produce, and which products deserve additional marketing support.
It can also help prevent decisions from being based entirely on assumptions.
A product may receive enthusiastic internal feedback but move slowly once it reaches the retail floor. Another product may receive less attention during development and become a consistent repeat purchase.
The dispensary provides evidence.
Retail technology can help organize that information across transactions, inventory, promotions, customer engagement, and store-level performance. The larger objective is not simply collecting more data. It is using that information to make better decisions about products and customers.
Wholesale Extends NOBO Beyond Its Own Stores
NOBO also markets its in-house brands to wholesale partners. Its wholesale program gives other licensed dispensaries an opportunity to carry NOBO products when those items are produced and licensed within the applicable state market.
That side of the business requires a different type of relationship.
Consumers need a reason to purchase a product. Dispensary buyers need a reason to dedicate shelf space, inventory dollars, employee education, and promotional attention to it.
A strong wholesale presentation needs more than attractive packaging. Retail buyers want to understand pricing, margins, product consistency, expected demand, production capacity, marketing support, and what separates the brand from competing products.
NOBO’s retail experience can strengthen those conversations because the company understands the challenges from both sides of the shelf.
The NOBO Podcast Episode Goes Behind the Dispensary Counter
The Respect My Region Podcast episode with Angela Jones and David Melendez gives viewers a better understanding of how NOBO approaches marketing, retail leadership, customer relationships, product strategy, and multistate growth.
It also introduces two of the people responsible for turning the company’s larger goals into something customers can experience.
Cannabis companies are often reduced to store counts, menus, product photographs, and promotional discounts. Those details matter, but they do not explain how the business actually operates.
People have to train the staff, select products, maintain the brand, review performance, solve problems, create campaigns, respond to customers, and keep different departments moving in the same direction.
Watch the full Respect My Region Podcast episode to hear Angela Jones and David Melendez discuss the retail strategy, people, products, and decision-making behind NOBO Goods.
Current stores, operating hours, menus, and brand information are available through the official NOBO Goods website.
This episode of the Respect My Region Podcast was produced in partnership with Treez.io.
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Cannabis Disclaimer: Cannabis is restricted to adults 21 and older except for patients participating in an authorized medical cannabis program. Purchase and possession limits differ by state. Do not drive while impaired or transport cannabis across state lines. Store cannabis products securely away from children and pets.
