This month, Hall of Flowers launched its first event in Sacramento, so it’s a perfect time to tell you about one of the city’s most ambitious, engaging dispensaries: Crystal Nugs. The Leaf stopped into the store to talk with CEO and co-founder Maisha Bahati about what has made them so successful since opening in 2023.
Sacramento’s first Black woman-owned dispensary, which started as a delivery service, opened three years ago as the fourth store in the city’s Cannabis Opportunity Reinvestment and Equity program.
According to the CORE website, the program is “dedicated to assisting individuals and communities who are facing barriers in starting Cannabis businesses due to the historical disparate enforcement of Cannabis crimes” by providing “training, technical and financial assistance and other guidance.”
Since transitioning to retail, the store now employs 22 staff members, has started construction of an on-site consumption lounge and is one of at least 24 businesses CORE lists on its website.
A multistory building on a busy intersection in Midtown Sacramento, Bahati said she worked hard to get a very visible location.
“We didn’t want to be one of those dispensaries off in the corner,” she said. “This space is for everybody. I wanted to present that in every aspect of Crystal Nugs — that this is a normal thing, and we’re just normal people, you know? I like to see people bringing their moms in here.”
Walking in, you’ll start in the first-floor lobby, where you can preorder through a kiosk or, if you’re not sure what you want, take the elevator to the second-floor showroom. There, you’ll find digital tabletop displays with product menus and a counter lined with their High Roller section of premium flower.
This dispensary has a deep roster of strains to choose from. Bahati told the Leaf that Crystal Nugs is proud to offer one of Sacramento’s largest indoor flower menus, with a particular focus on nearby producers. The shop even has two in-house flower brands: Uncle Jerry and Bahati.
A few things you’ll notice when you walk around are the giveback program for recycling Cannabis jars and the community bulletin board, where you can leave flyers. Not just a throwback to a less digital time, the board also serves as a vital way to promote Cannabis events without the issues faced when promoting on social media.
“Every day I come in, someone is putting something new on there,” Bahati said.
The recycling program offers a 5% discount to anyone who brings in three cleaned glass jars from previous orders to be repurposed into glass for candles.
Along with focusing on flower, community and sustainability, Crystal Nugs caters to a large topical and vape crowd and has its own in-house edibles brand, Gummie Grannie, which Bahati said uses a staff member as the basis for its mascot.
At this dispensary, you can clearly see the attention to detail, as well as the influence from Bahati’s background.
“Prior to Cannabis, I had been in fashion design for 20-some years, and my husband and I were both entrepreneurs,” she told the Leaf. “So, when we got into this industry, we were already creators and visionaries, so we just applied those skill sets.”
Vibrant and eye-catching without feeling overly accessorized, there’s something to see everywhere you look.
“When we opened, we wanted something open that flowed, that felt a little upscale but also welcoming. We also wanted it to have a feminine touch, and I wanted you to know when you walked in here that there was Black ownership,” Bahati said. “I wanted to bring all those aspects together, and every time I walk in here, I’m happy and satisfied.”
