Barneys Adds Bongs to Its Beverly Hills Store

(Bloomberg) -- Barneys wants in on cannabis.

Barneys New York Inc., the closely held chain of upscale specialty stores, is partnering with the Los Angeles pot brand Beboe to open what it calls a “luxury cannabis and wellness concept shop” on the fifth floor of its Beverly Hills store.

Dubbed “The High End,” the shop will sell marijuana accessories including rolling papers, pipes, ash trays, bongs and storage boxes. Since Barneys isn’t a licensed dispensary, it can’t legally sell weed. But there will be information about Beboe’s vape pens and edibles, which can be ordered online for delivery. The new shop is scheduled to open next month, according to a statement.

The partnership between a cannabis brand and a luxury retailer comes as access to legal marijuana continues to spread across the U.S. California is the world’s largest legal marijuana market, with Los Angeles the de facto capital of a weed culture that is pushing into the mainstream.

“This will appeal to our core customer,” said Matthew Mazzucca, creative director of Barneys. “Our brand really looks at creating dialogue and focusing on cultural shifts.”

Barneys is a fashion hub in many major cities, selling runway-worthy looks from high-end labels such as Balenciaga, Givenchy and Saint Laurent. The racks at Barneys are a playground for shoppers who can afford $3,000 Prada dresses and $1,000 money clips. The push into cannabis comes as department and specialty stores have struggled to draw customers as shopping shifts online. Many of the store’s customers have “made cannabis part of their lifestyle,” according to Chief Executive Officer Daniella Vitale.

Beboe, which currently sells its products in California and Colorado, is set to be acquired by Green Thumb Industries, a Chicago-based company that is one of the most valuable in the U.S. marijuana industry. That deal, which was announced last week, will expand the brand’s presence into several more states.

That could include other Barneys stores in major cities like Chicago and New York. Beboe developed new products specifically for the upscale store in Beverly Hills, and sees the partnership as a way to introduce itself to luxury consumers interested in marijuana.

“For us, we’re getting to communicate with curious customers who are basically our target demographic,” said Scott Campbell, one of Beboe’s co-founders.

--With assistance from Kim Bhasin.

To contact the reporter on this story: Craig Giammona in New York at cgiammona@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Anne Riley Moffat at ariley17@bloomberg.net, Lisa Wolfson, Jonathan Roeder

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