Talk about high fashion.
New York designer Adam Lippes and his partner, Alexander Farnsworth, are opening a cannabis shop in the Berkshires that will sell recreational marijuana along with a variety of stylish accessories — all inside a renovated church.
The store, appropriately named Highminded, is set to open in Great Barrington, Massachusetts in December or January.
“We’re really looking to turn the whole idea of a head shop upside down,” Lippes told Page Six. “I’ve had a house in the Berkshires for 15 years, and my partner, who’s in the social media world, has been following the legalization of marijuana across the country. He really spearheaded the project, and we’re about a year in at this point.”
Highminded will stock a variety of different cannabis strains, and Lippes said he and Farnsworth are “working with a cultivator” so they can start growing their own, too.
And in place of the glass bongs and tie-dyed T-shirts some might associate with the cannabis scene, Lippes will fill the shop with “cool accessories from all over the world, everything from Japanese matches to antique sterling silver ashtrays.” Apparel designed by Lippes will also be sold, so customers can smoke in style.
So why a church? “It just seemed like the perfect spot,” Lippes said. “We also had to be very cognizant of its place within the town. You don’t want to put it next to a toy store, for instance.”
He added, “The building is actually going to be lifted up off the ground [via a series of steel beams] — so it’s like the church is getting high!”
But before Highminded opens its doors, the church’s interior will be getting a top-down makeover. “The real inspiration for the store was a Vienna apothecary from the 1930s, but mixed with a super-clean vibe,” said Lippes, who said he’s “obsessed with interiors.”
“So take all the great cabinetry, the wood and the big fixtures, and add white lacquer and midcentury furniture. I really want to throw it back to the era when marijuana was legal, but make it feel clean and crisp,” the designer explained.
Getting Highminded off the ground has presented plenty of logistical challenges, Lippes admitted. While Massachusetts voted to legalize recreational marijuana in 2016, July 1 marked the first day that licensed businesses could start actually selling it, and only under very specific circumstances.
“There’s an incredible amount of restrictions — much more so than if you were opening a liquor store, for example,” Lippes said. “It’s a very restrictive business, so it’s been a very slow process. There’s a hundred pages of ‘cannot dos’ for the store.”
But ultimately, the designer said, launching the store has been well worth the struggle. “I really want to make this about discovery, about lifestyle,” he said. “It’s not just for people who already use marijuana — I think a lot of people will come in to learn. That’s what’s fun for me.”
Credit: pagesix.com
