The question comes up often during pre-open planning. Usually, it remains an ongoing discussion after the store opens and enters the endless phase of optimizing menu space. As you would expect, there is no single answer and much of the answer lies in the analysis of your local market.

Below is a summary from Lit Alerts data reporting the average menu items per store in the core East Coast adult use markets by category. Maryland leads the pack with stores carrying the greatest variety. This most likely stems from Maryland having the lowest store density so stores are forced to carry a larger assortment. Maryland has also maintained its focus on the medical market which may be a factor in why they lead in vapes and concentrates, products with higher dosing capability.

Interestingly enough, Maryland finds itself in the middle of the pack in the pre-roll category where New York leads. New York over-indexing on the convenience forms of smoking and vaping is no secret so it makes sense to see New York in the first or second spot for those categories.

Vapes continue to see an upward trend in popularity in New York and New Jersey as stores in these states carry the most SKUs in the vape category, outpacing both flower and pre-rolls.

Massachusetts carries far fewer SKUs per store than Maryland and New York and looks a lot more like New Jersey, with the glaring exception of vapes, which stores are carrying close to the same amount as their much smaller neighbor to the south, Connecticut.

Please note that accessories and apparel SKUs were pulled from this analysis as the analysis was focused on cannabis items.

Originally published in the Cultivated Media newsletter.