Flower to the People: Service before style
Grass Score: 3
Pros
Stellar service
Decent Selection
Equity partnerships
Cons
Dated design
Flower selection is so-so
1 - Just say no! • 2 - In a pinch • 3 - We’d hit it
4 - It’s lit • 5 - Oh, hell yes!
Day Trip Itinerary
Trees Flower to the People
Coffee + Culture Sight Glass SF MoMa
Lunch Leo’s Oyster Bar
Visuals Transit Center Park
Culture Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
High Tea Palace Hotel
Drinks House of Shields
Dinner In Situ
SF’s best (and worst) dispensaries 2019
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If you’re looking for a boutique experience you can stop reading now. While shops like Harvest, Vapor Room, and Apothecarium have gone full tilt on high design, Flower to the People isn’t committing to a look … and that’s putting it politely.
The logo looks like something out of a 1990s gay bar and the decor, well there’s not much to speak of. The space feels almost temporary, with wooden folding screens acting as makeshift barriers. A single mural of a weed leaf takes up one interior wall, but there’s little else here to give you any sense of personality or perpetuity. There’s no built-in shelving or particularly flashy lighting. No marble countertops, no subway tile. There’s not even permanent signage. Really, there’s nothing tying the store to the space it occupies.
It feels like, out of the blue, Flower to the People could just up and disappear. Like the city’s early pot shops, which were frequently forced to close or uproot their businesses under threat of federal intervention, Flower to the People seems to have embraced impermanence. At just two years old, it feels tied to the past.
Lucky for Flower to the People, it takes more than a cute facade to make a dispensary, even in a post-64 world. You’ll find a wide range of edibles, extracts, vapes, and tinctures. Depending on the week, however, you may not find exactly what you’re looking for in terms of flower. If you’re lucky, though, you’ll end up with some stellar service. Our budtender wasn’t just a master of flattery -- she gave our looks the compliments they deserved -- she also knew what the fuck she was talking about.
It’s unfortunate that it has to be said, but too many times the people who should be there to educate and serve seem uninterested and aloof. Let me tell you something: Y’all can keep that shit for the coffeeshop. Many people use marijuana as medicine, and only some under the supervision of physicians. I’m not saying y’all have to get a degree in medicine. Just know what you’re selling and be willing to answer some questions.
Anyway, back to budtender at hand. This woman knew how to sell weed: compliment the fuck out of their outfits and then hit ‘em with some education. Signs at the interest said to ask about their equity partners, so we did. She was surprised -- apparently this was a first for her -- but she had all of the facts. Turns out Flower to the People proudly carries products from formerly incarcerated and PoC vendors participating in equity programs, which aim to reverse the effects of the War on Drugs.
She walked us through the edibles and tinctures, but we were there for the flower. The selection was a little thin, but our girl came through. We were in the market for a mellow fruit-forward strain, nothing too heady or speedy. She showed us SF Roots Mulberry Cookies: 19% THC with a juicy nose. We were sold. We snagged a pre-roll and the high was right on. Nice and chill. And that’s how we felt leaving the store.
Despite a lack of personality in its branding and merchandising the people really seem to love this place. The day we visited there was a line out the door. Minutes before at Apothecarium, just around the corner, there was no line to speak of. Could it have something to do with the service? Maybe. Or maybe Apothecarium is just one block too far off the beaten path.
Either way, in the world of weed bad style is forgivable. Bad service, on the other hand, is just unnecessary.