When you thought things couldn’t get worse for the shuttered cannabis dispensary Hashstoria, two contractors just filed liens against the shuttered cannabis dispensary for unpaid work.
Todd Haynie, owner of a Maryland-based construction company BuilderGuru Contracting, claims that he was stiffed $535,264 for the work he did renovating the shop located at 799 Broad Street. A Monroe-based construction firm VIP Construction Services also took legal action for $62,255 worth of uncompensated labor.
These contractors were not the only ones chasing owner Raekwon around town for the money they were owed. At the time of the shop’s April grand opening, court documents reveal the dispensary hadn’t paid the landlord for 19 straight months, totaling $500,000.
What set Hashstoria apart from other dispensaries was its brand. Owner Wu Tang Clan rapper Raekwon was cultivating a glitzy image built around his famous friends, celebrity investors, and hip-hop culture. Although Charlemagne and Bakari Sellers were listed among the dispensary’s investors, the underlying problem seemed to be a lack of investment, making it unable to withstand the early challenges of opening its doors to the public.
In our previous coverage, we explored some reasons that could have contributed to Hashstoria’s downfall, including the delays in getting Planning Board approvals and a pricey overhead that cost them $23,333 per month. Part of the reason for the five-digit monthly rent was that the location included a cannabis lounge that was never utilized for that purpose.
That said, Hashstoria acquired its license in Newark through a special avenue called the social equity license, which is meant to pay back a debt to a community that had suffered during the War on Drugs. One could argue that such a dispensary has an obligation to leave a community better than it was — or if not better, certainly not worse. But if the stories Jersey Digs has heard are true, Hashstoria’s higher-ups burned a lot of people in its short existence — and the company has greeted these accusations so far with radio silence.
”Workers’ rights is equity,” Hugh Giordano, union representative and organizer for UFCW Local 152, a leader in the cannabis industry. “When you hire people from the community, you have to treat them well.”
One former employee, Chantal Ojeda, who did not reply to a request for further comment, posted to LinkedIn about the dispensary’s “toxic work environment.”
“Harassment, lack of professionalism, incompetence, and a serious absence of transparency made it one of the most difficult professional experiences I’ve had,” said Ojeda, who has since found work with a new dispensary.
Another employee, Kyle Collins, believes that the management was possibly skimming tips from the floor staff and pilfering free samples that were supposed to be reserved for the budtenders so that they could make recommendations to customers. “We weren’t getting them, so where did they go?” Collins said.
Sarah Atwa believes that the management should have been more transparent about their financial situation. Instead, she and others were strung along with promises of full-time employment that never materialized. Atwa claims she “rearranged her life” to take the part-time “dream job” position that ended only two months after it began.
“We were all caught by surprise,” she said about the shop’s sudden closure.
Atwa believes Hashstoria might have survived with the proper management in place. To Raekwon’s credit, Hashstoria’s three other locations in Oregon had proven successful. But the poorly run, overpriced dispensary was no match for the legacy market in the streets of Newark, she claims.
“You can’t offer a $60 product inside when they’re selling it for $20 outside,” Atwa said.
Giordano believes that one reason for the high prices at Hashstoria is the presence of too many dispensaries and too few cultivation sites in New Jersey.
“The back of the house is what controls the prices,” Giordano said.
However, Giordano believes that if the street market can offer better prices, customer service is what is going to determine whether dispensaries live or die. “If they can get a $6 joint and they have a nice budtender, someone who cares about them and gives them deals, then people will be willing to buy something at Hashstoria,” Giordano said. “The retail market is not going to be based on the product — it’s going to based on their relationship with their customers.”
