Planet 13, The World's Largest Cannabis Entertainment Concept, Is High-Speed Innovation At Its Best - Forbes

Entrance to Planet 13

Planet 13

Planet 13 is a marvel to behold, but not for the obvious reasons. Sure, it may well be the largest cannabis store in the world at 112,000 square feet, but the word “store” does not capture the essence of Planet 13 in any way, shape, or form.

Planet 13 is so much more than a store. It already is, at breakneck speed, what so much of the retail industry aspires to be. It is not a store, but rather “an entertainment concept,” as Planet 13 Co-CEO Bob Groesbeck likes to say, and the world’s largest cannabis one at that.

Planet 13 answers the fundamental question that plagues so many retailers right now – why still come to physical stores to shop?

In just five years, Groesbeck and the founding team have boldly answered this question not just today but for the future as well. The answer is, of course, for the experience and the entertainment value.

Despite the headwinds of cultural acceptance and mountains of governmental regulations that would make even Sir Edmund Hillary quake in his boots, Planet 13’s founders have moved quickly from humble beginnings to create not just another mirage in the desert, but a true mecca to the concept of entertainment retail itself.

While many legacy retailers cite excuses in the face of pressures to innovate – e.g. the fear of disappointing their current customers, the expensive capital required to revamp old store architectures, the increased cost of engineering talent, etc. – Planet 13 has said to heck with all that and instead viewed any of its potential roadblocks, not as problems, but as untapped opportunities.

This Is One Rocket Ship That Is About To Blast Off

Planet 13 is actually the founding team’s second store. Their first store was small, only a 5,000 square foot shop devoted to medicinal cannabis. But, quickly, and as regulations changed, the founders realized that the demand for cannabis had the potential to far outstrip what they could do in the confines of their small footprint.

So, they went bold, or, said another way, they went Vegas on the opportunity.

In just a few short years (three to be exact), they secured a parcel of land about as close to Las Vegas Boulevard as one could get, just behind the Las Vegas Fashion Show Mall and just a quick walk to and from the heart of the strip.

Walk right up to Planet 13, and it is a sight to behold. The total footprint is roughly 112,000 square feet, and at the entrance of the building sits a giant red orb, not to be outdone by some of the most unique floral sculptures the world has ever seen, even by Vegas standards.

LED Lotus Flowers at Planet 13

Planet 13

Walk into the experience, and it is high class. Customers check-in, show their IDs, and then they are given a ticket to scan into the experience. Upon entering, they are greeted by a helpful “Budtender,” whose job it is to make customers feel welcome and to demystify the product with in-the-moment expertise when called upon.

Planet 13 Staff at Entrance

Planet 13

Products are beautifully merchandised behind glass cases, with information placards and prices set alongside them, and there’s even a sensory bar, where customers can experience cannabis much in the same way one would experience wine, traveling as a tourist through Napa Valley.

Planet 13 Salesfloor

Planet 13

Now, where the story really gets interesting is that, while Planet 13’s footprint is 112,000 square feet, only 40,000 square feet of the total space is actually being utilized today. Approximately 16,000 square feet is devoted to the retail experience described above, and the remainder of the space is devoted to back office operations.

But that is just today.

Quite soon Planet 13 will take the cannabis experience to new heights. Phase II of its expansion plans include adding a new coffee shop and pizzeria, along with a customer-facing production facility, featuring 115 feet of windows where visitors can watch and learn what goes into the creation of individual Planet 13 products. The coffee shop and pizzeria will occupy an additional 4,500 square feet, and the production facility will take up another 14,000 square feet. There are even plans to begin construction on a 2,000 square foot event space that can accommodate up to 200 people for weddings, corporate events, conferences, etc. as well.

All told, if you are scoring at home, that means Planet 13 will soon add roughly 20,000 square feet to its operation for dining, entertainment, and event purposes, leaving still almost 50,000 to 60,000 square feet for further development.

What they plan to do next is anyone’s guess, but, if history is any indication, the best bet is that it will be bigger, better, and bolder than anything announced to date. It is Vegas after all.

All told, in a short period of time, Planet 13 went from humble beginnings as a 5,000 square foot store to a super-premium, state-of-the-art, full-fledged cannabis experience with almost 60,000 square feet of canvas still left to be painted by the brush of innovation.

It only took five years for Planet 13's founders to conceptualize something completely new, fresh from ground up and greenfield. The key ingredients were simply grit, passion, and entrepreneurial spirit.

There was no, "let's just make our 5,000 foot store a little bit different or better." There were no Growth 50 initiatives, no stick out like a sore thumb online pickup towers, and no round peg in a square hole mashups of fitness concepts and grocery concepts with apparel retailing.

There was just a bold, fresh idea to do something no one had ever done before.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it Walmart, Macy’s, et al.

The material for this piece was taken from publicly available information and directly from a guided tour of the Planet 13 facility and from a sit down podcast interview with Planet 13’s Co-CEO Bob Groesbeck on March 5, 2019.

If you are interested in exploring the topic of cannabis even deeper and would like to read or listen to the full in-depth interview with Mr. Groesbeck in more detail, you can also find more on Forbes by clicking here. 

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Read Again https://www.forbes.com/sites/christopherwalton/2019/03/22/planet-13-the-worlds-largest-cannabis-entertainment-concept-is-high-speed-innovation-at-its-best/

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