Green Goat Cannabis Shoppe Opens in New Paltz - Daily Freeman
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. — At Green Goat Cannabis Shoppe, customers can purchase cannabis grown under a dozen miles away.
Located in the plaza at 3 Cherry Hill Road in the village, Green Goat is Ulster County’s newest cannabis shop and the second microbusiness in the county open for retail. The microbusiness license allows for the shop to cultivate, process, and sell its own product. The other microbusiness is Back Home Dispensary in Stone Ridge.
The New Paltz shop opened for its first day of business on Sunday, Dec. 28, led by a team of Kingston locals. Retail director Bradley Allred comes into the business with over 25 years of experience in the wine and spirits industry, along with operations director Nicole Digilio Kross, who has an extensive background in corporate management.
Farm director Eric “Ricky” Versen is a former legacy grower in Michigan.
“The simplest way to explain (the business) is that we are a seed-to-sale operation,” Digilio Kross said in an interview on Wednesday. “Unlike your standard dispensary, we have multiple licenses that exist in every tier of the process.”
“We’re able to cultivate the plant, from the seed, we’re able to process the plant, and then we hold a retail license which allows us to then sell the product to the consumer,” Digilio Kross said. “A microbusiness doesn’t have to exist in the retail sector, we choose to embrace the true meaning of what a microbusiness is, which is that seed-to-sale.”
Green Goat Cannabis Shoppe currently offers its own range of flower and pre-rolls, all of which is grown on a farm in the nearby Esopus hamlet of St. Remy. Versen said some additional products are currently in the works.
“Edibles will be coming, more infused pre-rolls will be coming, vapes will be coming,” Versen said. “It being the first year, it takes a second to get the ball rolling, but we’re here and we’re presenting the best of what we’ve got.”
In addition to its own product range, the shop also offers a few cannabis-based edible products from Millerton-based Harney Brothers. “We are bringing in hand-selected products from other vendors that we feel also align with what our vision is and our mission is, to deliver high-quality, pure product to the customer in a curated fashion,” Digilio Kross said.
Also available at the store are a variety of brochures and pamphlets about cannabis in general for those interested in learning more.
Allred said the store has received a very positive response from locals.
“When we tell our story to customers, it’s always really warmly received,” Allred said. “It gives that human connection to the product that they’re buying. They’re talking to the people who have worked at the farm, they’re talking to the people who took these plants out of the ground and now we’re here selling them.”
Allred said he hopes the smaller, curated selection not only makes the shop more accessible for newcomers to cannabis but also enhances the connection between the customer and the product.
“What we offer is a unique shopping experience. Other dispensaries have big selections, but the consumer tends to feel very disconnected from those products, because it’s just a thing on a shelf with a price. There’s no story to be told in that moment,” Allred said. “When someone comes in here, the vibe is much more relaxed, and much more welcoming.”
Digilio Kross said the shop already has some regulars.
“In our short eight, nine days of being operational, we have a considerable amount of repeat customers coming in, which is fantastic,” Digilio Kross said. “We love hearing, ‘Oh I’m right around the corner,’ or ‘It’s great to have a neighborhood shop that I can walk to.'”
“It’s that sense of community that really reassures us that we’re in the right spot, we’re doing the right thing, and sending the right message to the community,” Digilio Kross said.
Green Goat Cannabis Shoppe is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. on Sundays. For more information, visit https://www.greengoatgardensny.com/ or find Green Goat Cannabis Shoppe on Instagram at @greengoatcannabisshoppe.
Green Goat Cannabis Shoppe is Ulster County’s 12th cannabis shop. Other shops in Ulster County include Catskill Mountain High, Hub Dispensary, and Lucky Green Ladies in Kingston, Domes Dispensary, FLUENT Cannabis (formerly Etain), and Canna Planet in the town of Ulster, Royal Blend in Rosendale, HERbal Woodstock in Woodstock, Big Gas Dispensary in New Paltz, Back Home Dispensary in Stone Ridge, and Canna Planet in Ellenville. In Northern Dutchess County, Upstate Pines and Lofty Supply, another microbusiness, are open in Red Hook.
By Connor Greco
