Cannabis Comes to Cloudcroft

Since New Mexico legalized the sale of recreational cannabis in spring of 2022, Cloudcroft locals and tourists have three dispensaries to choose from. How are they doing?

Nov 11, 2023

To no one's surprise, when New Mexico cannabis sales became legal in April 2022, Cloudcroft entrepreneurs started dispensaries to serve the market of locals and tourists.

Today, Cloudcroft has three.

High Cannabis opened in April 2022 at 102 Little Mexican Ave, down the hill from the Otero County Electric Coop. A few months later, in July 2022, Laughing Leaf Recreational Dispensary opened on 504 Burro Avenue. A third location, Backcountry Cannabis, debuted in March 2023. High Cannabis and Backcountry Cannabis are both owned by CCC Holdings LLC. Laughing Leaf also has two stores, with the second in Tularosa. Both companies are locally owned and operated.

Since April 2022, cannabis sales in Cloudcroft totaled $1,331,481 off 24,854 transactions, ranking the village 39th out of 74 markets in New Mexico. Albuquerque leads the state with cumulative sales of $246 million. For the entire state, cumulative sales are $772,194,801. It’s a big business.

Sales figures for September show Laughing Leaf Dispensary posted revenue of $58,308, more than half of the sales recorded in Cloudcroft. High Cannabis numbers have been falling off since its initial entry into the market, showing just $23,960 in September sales, perhaps with some of that attributable to the recent opening of sister dispensary Backcountry Cannabis ($21,359 in September) on the more easily accessible location off James Canyon Hwy near Mad Jack's.

(See the graphs below for comparisons. Source: https://crop.rld.nm.gov/sales.html)

Unsurprisingly, tourists comprise most of the purchases. Justin Walkinshaw, Regional Manager for Laughing Leaf, estimates "an average of 60% tourists and 40% locals, although it also depends on the time of year. During the summer and around the holidays, we'll see a larger percentage of tourists."

One surprise, Walkinshaw says, is "how many first-time dispensary goers we get. Of the 60% of our tourist traffic, roughly 75% have never been to a dispensary before. That's why I stress the highest level of customer service and education to my budtenders. I want to ensure that their first experience in a dispensary is a positive and memorable one."

He says that contrasts with the customer base of Laughing Leaf's Tularosa location. "There's definitely not the same tourist crowd in Tularosa and a much higher percentage of locals. Another big striking difference between the two is that our Tularosa location has a drive-thru."

Shianna Gorby, Operations Manager of Backcountry Cannabis, says, "We have a great local customer base that we love to see year-round, but we do have our good share of tourists that visit our locations."

As you would expect, Cloudcroft sees lots of business from Texans, where the state has yet to legalize the sale of recreational cannabis.

Interestingly, while there are three different store names in Cloudcroft, there are only two companies. Why does CCC Holdings LLC operate under two brands? Gorby's answer: "We try to carry different products at each location to offer a wider variety of items. The same name would indicate that we carry the same products. Similar to chain companies, so we wanted to avoid the confusion and offer a larger variety between the two locations."

To stock their shelves, Cloudcroft dispensaries get their offerings from outside the village. Walkinshaw says he uses "a number of online ordering platforms that I source products through, but the majority of the product I source is from local suppliers who bring by samples for us to try. While all products we can purchase and then sell have to come from within the state of NM, we also try to keep it hyper-local as much as possible. "

Gorby says, "We have our own grown down in Las Cruces for some of our bulk flower offerings. As for edibles and carts, we outsource to some really great companies spread all over NM. Most distributors offer delivery services now, and this is a great perk for being able to have things delivered on a weekly basis.”

The state has discussed tweaking the cannabis rules based on a year-and-a-half of learning. How do these Cloudcroft businesses view that?

Walkinshaw says, "More than making changes to the rules and regulations, I'd like to see more enforcement of the current rules and regulations. There are lots of dispensaries, manufacturers, and growers not playing by the rules, and it makes it really challenging for dispensaries like us who are 100% compliant on all the rules and regulations (and there are a lot of them)."

Gorby notes, "We think there is always room for improvement, and in such a new industry in the state, there definitely could be some adjustments to better the regulations."

The key to future success lies in maintaining high customer satisfaction. For CCC Holdings, Goby says, "We are staffed with friendly, educated budtenders and are here for any questions. Even if you are new to trying out the products, we are happy to review them with you and educate you on things you may be curious about. We love to meet new people! Between our two locations, we have a wide variety of product offerings and would love to find something that suits your needs."

At Laughing Leaf, Walkinshaw says, "we strive to provide the highest level of customer service and education. We are passionate about what we do, and we promise to always have the highest quality products in Cloudcroft and Tularosa. We also have a certified cannabis nurse on staff in Tularosa offering free consultations as part of our commitment to cannabis education."

To date, Cloudcroft is doing just fine with locally owned stores. Perhaps the big chain dispensaries will look for greener pastures elsewhere.