June 28, 2021

Text: Quinn Halman

Canadian Cannabis Store Superette Opens a Fourth Location

red square tiles line the walls of this Superette cannabis store
Being an inherent part of the dispensary experience, the ID check is built into the retail design by repurposing a photobooth. Photography by Alex Lysakowski.

Lauded Canadian cannabis brand Superette recently opened its fourth outpost in Ottawa’s Glebe neighborhood, kilometers by its first locale. “Each time we expand our brand’s retail footprint we use it as an opportunity to try something different,” Superette CEO Mimi Lam shares, with her fellow co-founder and chief brand officer Drummond Munro explaining that the new space “highlights the evolution of the brand,” while maintaining the familiar, diner-inspired components that make it so recognizable. “Customers know how to interact with these elements,” Munro continues, “you see a fridge and you know what to expect inside; you see a stool and it calls you to sit.” The new store is divided into three distinct areas beginning with the vibrant red merchandise shop and mini arcade, moving through a “funhaus” of mirrors, and ending in the cannabis retail area at the back. “We always try to surprise and delight,” Munro says, referencing the claw machine and distortive mirrors as examples of gamifying the retail experience to elevate it beyond just a transactional one.  To appeal to its broad demographic, the brand stayed true to its surreal yet signature style, tapping into the power of nostalgia to build lasting connections.

colorful selections on display at Superette, a Canadian cannabis store
“Interacting with your cannabis is like picking a flower up at a bodega,” Munro says as he explains why designing to utilize the five senses in dispensaries is key to creating an inclusive brand. Photography by Alex Lysakowski.
a menu marquee fills the wall at Superette, a cannabis retailer
Superette’s expansive cannabis menu marquee nearly fills an entire wall.  Photography by Alex Lysakowski.
the brick exterior of Superette
Superette’s rose logo is fashioned into a neon light on the store’s exterior. Photography by Alex Lysakowski.
a hall of mirrors inside Superette
A vintage Pepsi vending machine was repurposed into a door that leads into the hall of mirrors. Photography by Alex Lysakowski.
customers sit at the counter in front of the menu marquee at Superette
White tiles with red grout—the inverse of the entryway tile scheme—and the sky pattern on the exterior of the mirror hall are what Munro calls “a soft approach to being high, going on the notion of your head being in the clouds.” Photography by Alex Lysakowski.

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