An emerging niche in design can be found in industries ranging from: healthcare, retail, and hospitality. They give customers the same feeling as a luxe hair salon or a trendy coffee shop.

It cannot be denied that environment, and great design shape human thinking and experience. And in many cases, customers don’t just pay for a product or service, but the experience as a whole.

In my opinion, this is the direction we are headed with the marijuana industry. Cannabis isn’t just for “stoners” and the typical cannasseur. As it is sweeping the nation (and even the globe), and gaining societal acceptance, we are seeing new, emerging markets; people you wouldn’t have expected to “smoke.”

But now it is not just smoking. There are edibles, and better yet, vapes. It is becoming more and more “normal” for the “average” person to consume. But we can’t just change the product. We have to also change the service, and the environment surrounding the product, to really impact the mindset of society.

Good design is a powerful tool in changing negative perceptions of cannabis and elevating the value that these businesses can add to a community.

With this change in the perception of cannabis, needs to be a change in sales experience that keeps up with the evolving perception of marijuana.

Here are 5 dispensaries that seem to be getting this concept. They have all taken their retail to a whole new level of design. Can you even tell that they are dispensaries?