The Farmacy SB is a premier cannabis dispensary in Santa Barbara, California. The retail cannabis dispensary has a great central location that is both commercial and residential with quick and easy freeway access.
Throughout the last year, their dispensary was deemed “essential” which has helped business remain steady. General Manager Leialoha Cail attributes much of their successes to the quality of the products and a service-focused culture, as well as an increasing awareness and acceptance of cannabis in Santa Barbara and society in general.
“It was clear that Santa Barbara was ready for a high-quality cannabis retailer with the staff they could trust to educate and help people find the right products to fit their needs”, says Cail.
The Farmacy is frequently described as feeling more like a jewelry store than a dispensary. When customers walk through our doors they’re immediately welcomed by staff and encouraged to spend as much time walking them through the menu selection as they need. As of December 19th, The Farmacy is still open for pickup and curbside services, but the showroom inside was closed due to the current Covid-19 restrictions.
In this exclusive interview, The Farmacy makes it clear that the location and menu are a small part of the success they experience.
Interview slightly edited for clarity by RMR.
RMR: How long have you been in business?
The Farmacy: We were the first 21+ dispensary in the City of Santa Barbara and opened our doors in August 2019. It was a warm welcome from the very beginning, with over 800 customers on opening day. Since then it has been a steady stream of locals and tourists alike, and we see a lot of the same faces every other day with lots of new ones too.
RMR: What distinguishes The Farmacy from other retailers in the state?
The Farmacy: One thing that really differentiates The Farmacy SB is our commitment to serving and supporting our community. Santa Barbara County has a lot of top tier cultivators – Glass House Farms, Autumn Brands, Josh D among them – and 35% of the flower we stock is locally sourced. The concept of Farm to Farmacy is centered around providing the freshest flower with the least amount of environmental impact.
We also participate in fundraising collaborations with local farms and CARP Growers and have been able to make sizeable donations to the local Warming Centers and Food Bank in times when financial contributions have been desperately needed.
Our founder, Graham Farrar, and I are Santa Barbara natives, and we feel strongly that it is important to make a positive impact on our community in all that we do.
We were recently awarded the Best Dispensary in Santa Barbara by the premier Santa Barbara weekly, The Independent. The award is determined by the reader’s vote, which feels really good because it shows us that our community loves us as much as we love them.
RMR: Shops have had to make a lot of changes in response to COVID, how has The Farmacy been handling this pandemic?
The Farmacy: We were quick to respond to the impacts of COVID back in March. Before it was confirmed that cannabis was an essential business a lot of people panicked and came to the shop to purchase in large quantities.
Our showroom is on the smaller side – we’re more of a boutique – and it quickly became more crowded than we were comfortable with.
We switched to a curbside hybrid model and basically turned the shop inside out. Now our entrance and exit doors have been converted to walk-up windows with plexiglass barriers.
Customers can place orders online for pickup, or they can speak with our specialists at the window and still get the individualized customer service that we’re known for. Delivery also really took off and we added two more cars to our fleet to meet the demand.
RMR: What is the employee community at your shop like? What is the customer community like?
The Farmacy: We have a really diverse group of employees, which we think is important since we have such a wide-ranging demographic in our customer base. Our team members are in their 20’s, in their 60’s and everything in between. We have students and grad students, industry veterans, and newbies alike.
The commonality is that all our employees are thoughtful, intelligent, and passionate about cannabis. Our focus has always been service over sales, so an earnest desire to help people is a common thread that is woven throughout our company culture.
Our customer community is really fantastic, a true representation of the various age ranges, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds in the area.
The Farmacy is the type of shop that you can feel safe sending your mom to, and know that she’ll be well taken care of. It’s also the shop where you know you can consistently find flower that will satisfy the pickiest connoisseur and the best brands in each category.
RMR: What precautions do you take to ensure you’re delivering a high-quality experience each time?
The Farmacy: Our primary focus has always been customer service, so delivering a high-quality experience is where we direct most of our energy. It’s a key component in onboarding and ongoing training with all employees. Similarly, we’re also heavily focused on curating a menu that delivers the best options in each category.
A big part of the high-quality experience is the ease in which customers can find high-quality products, so it’s important to us that we feature a dynamic menu that offers something for everyone.
Since we were the first recreational storefront in Santa Barbara we knew that, for many local residents, coming to The Farmacy would be their first introduction to the emerging world of legal, adult-use cannabis. When we designed the store we wanted it to be filled with natural light and open displays for a tactile, browsing experience.
RMR: Does The Farmacy also have a cultivation business? Where do the products in the shop come from?
The Farmacy: We are a part of Glass House Group and have cultivation facilities in nearby Carpinteria with more than 500,000 square feet of licensed and operational greenhouses. We also have a manufacturing facility about an hour north of us and three other retail locations in California – Berkeley, Los Angeles and Santa Ana.
Being vertically integrated means we can give our customers the first opportunity to access fresh drops and new strains from such premier brands as Field Extracts and Glass House Farms.
Many of the products in our shop come from our own farms and facilities, but the majority of manufactured products come from other areas throughout California – LA area, Bay Area, and Northern California.
RMR: Hopes for expansion or are there any exciting things in the works?
The Farmacy: We’re part of one of the most rapidly growing cannabis companies in California, so there is always something new on the horizon! We are looking at a couple of other locations in the surrounding area and plan to expand our retail footprint this year.
There is also a hemp farm in Central California and are hoping to have products that can be available in all 50 states. We get really excited about all the brand collaborations we’re doing with awesome companies like Lobo, Space Coyote, El Blunto and Airgraft.
I’ll often hear Graham talking about a collab he’s working on, and before I know it distributors are bringing it through our door. There is definitely no shortage of exciting things in the near and distant future!
