Quest 4 the Best: A Head Shop Buyer's Guide
Head shop purchasers and inventory managers have it tough. Every month, it seems like there are another thousand new products to sift through, and thousands more sales reps blowing you up to get you to buy. Have no fear; we’re here to help you cut through the clutter. Read on for our June installment of Quest 4 the Best, our monthly department dedicated to helping you find the stuff worth stocking.
Pichincha
Pichincha is a volcano-rich province in north-central Ecuador; it’s also the name of a super cool wholesale gift company that specializes in handmade jewelry and other highly crafted items from all over Latin America. Based in Miami, Florida, Pichincha is a woman-owned business that has been around since 1986 and was founded as a mom-and-pop enterprise that operated out of Floridian flea markets. Founder Nancy Brook and her family have grown Pichincha into “one of the leading Latin minority-run wholesalers of its kind in the industry.” With a simple perusal of Pinchicha’s website, retailers can find every funky flavor under the tropical sun, from colorful ashtrays to worry dolls, from woven anklets to carved peace pipes and children’s toys. As for jewelry, Pichincha has your head shop covered with its wide selection of earrings, rings, bracelets, pendants and lanyards. Pichincha brings the spirit, mysteries, and essence of Latin America to retailers through its artisan-made crafts and handmade jewelry.
Stache
Stache is famous for their sleek, all-in-one dab rigs. They also make a righteously-designed grinder–one that features rounded teeth for a smooth process–and a digital scale that’s perfect for use with concentrates and microdoses. The operative word, it seems, with this group of professional upstarts (they started out just 9 years ago, in 2015) is innovation. In fact, Stache founder, Rod, says that the company’s quest to bring innovative products to the public “will never stop.” This focus on new products for a new age first resulted in “the first portable dab setup for customers” and recently came full circle when Stache debuted the ConNectar charging system, which ensures convenience and portability with just a small battery. As founder Rod tells it, “Our desire to continue designing unique products will never stop.” Visit Stache online today for an assortment of some of the most inventive accessories on the market.
Cycling Frog Beverages
Who has ever heard of a cycling frog? Well, after sampling the artisan extracts available from Cycling Frog Beverages, you’ll probably be hopping on that old bike of yours (you know, the one in your garage) to spread the news. That’s okay though, because the founders of Cycling Frog are committed to normalizing cannabis use, and thus would probably be ecstatic to hear you sing out the praises for the company’s exciting and soothing beverages, mints, and brownie bites. Now that we’ve got that clear, a little more about the product: Cycling Frog sells its products by potency, so customers can take their normalizing, people-reaching efforts at their own pace. Starting with 1mg THC + 5mg CBD wintergreen mints, or 2mg + 4mg CBD canned flavored seltzer waters, cannabis aficionados can work their way up to Cycling Frog’s Sparkling THC Iced Tea Lemonade, which features 50mg of THC and CBD, respectively, in a refreshing 12 ounce can. Grab that bicycle by the horns and start your journey today!
Instabar
With the Instabar, ANNBIZ comes out swinging, leveraging deep industry knowledge and a penchant for innovation to offer a righteous combo of sophistication and personal choice. The Instabar disposable vape offers a harmonious blend of form and function. With its svelte, futuristic design that evokes the minimalist elegance of top-tier tech products, this vape delivers up to 5000 puffs from a substantial 12ml e-liquid reservoir, while the 650 mAh battery, rechargeable via USB-C, promises endurance to match its style. Each unit, encased in a removable silicone rubber for comfort and durability, comes in 15 scrumptious flavors, offering a nic salt vaping experience that’s tailored to the hilt.
Uplift THCA
Looking to discover the magical properties of THCA? Look no further than UpliftCBD! As many readers know, cannabis flower that has been grown to retain significant concentrations of THCA can still be very low THC content and doesn’t become psychoactive until heated, giving the compound a wide range of marketing and consumer possibilities. The stuff is great for addressing all the ailments the real thing alleviates, but without the federal law gumming things up. Uplift discovered these amazing traits and now offers consumers a wide variety of THCA flower and prerolls. They’ve got three amazing strains, too: Dynamite Cookies, Kush Cake, and Oreoz; each contains 100 percent Hemp and does not contain more than 0.3% Delta-9 THC; 3.5 gram packs will cost you $39.99 and quarter ounce containers are a deal at $69.99 (retail). As the folks at Uplift say, “This flower is sure to UPLIFT you and your friends!”
Jane West Twenties Collection Bubbler
West Coast Gifts is proud to feature the deliciously maximalist post-postmodern design work of cannabis activist, creative, and industry leader Jane West—whose life and work are currently featured in this month’s Women in Cannabis feature on page 36. Her Twenties Collection is notable for its strikingly solid aesthetic. Of particular note is the Bubbler, a sturdy art object/handheld water pipe made with borosilicate glass that klutzy Gen-X consumers like this writer fell in love with on first exposure. With the Bubbler, West has combined a singular sense of sculpture, heavy-duty materials, an ergonomically designed mouthpiece, and a sharp-cornered bowl made to maximize the burning process, creating a marvel of functionality merged with classic aesthetic beauty. What’s most excellent though is the fact that this—and West’s work in general—really does look like something you’d find in an alternate throwback universe where your parents or grandparents broke out such treasures for get-togethers and bridge clubs, making it all the more unforgettable when placed on the shelf of your standard head shop.
