If you’ve ever driven up the highway past Berkeley, you’ve probably seen the giant “Keep Hope Alive” mural. That message and the giant blue wall emblazoned with the word “dispensary” mark the home of 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center, one of the best stores in the East Bay.
7 Stars is tucked right off the exit ramp, close to 99 Ranch and some outstanding French and Italian bakeries. Like one of those kitchens, this is the kind of place where the owner tries every product to make sure it’s up to standards. Having “Holistic Healing Center” in the name is more than just a reference to how long they’ve been around. This is the type of store that hosts biweekly yoga classes and school supply drives, posts employee bios on their website alongside executives and still holds a place for Cannabis as medicine.
7 Stars keeps an impressive amount of topicals, tinctures and other medicinal-themed products on hand, along with over 250 options for Cannabis. Director of Operations Ben Grambergu says that after adult-use came into effect, they saw so many salves, tinctures and more therapeutic items disappear off shelves. “We’ve gone the opposite direction and carry the largest selection of medicinal products in the immediate Bay Area,” he said.
7 Stars opened back in 2009. Since then, they’ve moved around a bit, eventually settling into their current location in 2021, which is just across the street from where they started. Ben attributes the store’s longtime popularity to the owners listening to customer needs and being a part of their community, Cannabis and otherwise. The store has also become the East Bay’s extension for SF Hash Week, providing a connection between dabbers on each side of the bridge.
Ben joked that people always think the store’s name is a reference to super luxury service or a mythical type of hash, but the original idea came to the owners from the sky itself. Thousands of stars make up the Pleiades constellation, and it’s one of the closest star clusters to Earth. However, the seven main stars, sometimes called the Seven Sisters, are the easiest to see with the naked eye. Adrian, one of the founders, came up with this idea while looking into the night sky, and it resonated with the other two founders, Joe and Zee.
Though taxes and regulations can make things seem dark, 7 Stars Holistic Healing Center continues to shine a guiding light, illuminated by three core values: Cannabis is a sacred medicine, all legal customers, patients, caregivers and producers are welcome and quality is always top priority.
