This past week Caliva launched DELI, a new cannabis retail concept in Bellflower, Los Angeles. While Caliva has tested a version of this concept with their DELI location in San Jose (an old dispensary bought and renovated by Caliva), the new Bellflower location represents Caliva’s first real retail debut, developed by them from the ground up.
Founded in 2015, Caliva has become one of the biggest names in consumer cannabis, making the news most recently when Jay-Z hitched his wagon to the flower giant as Chief Brand Strategist. The brand is vertically integrated, involved from growing to distribution. By managing every step from seed to sale, Caliva is able to ensure quality as well as offering a variety of pricing options between all the sub-brands underneath the Caliva umbrella.
DELI is their latest project, reimagining cannabis retail through the lens of an old school bodega or delicatessen; with the best flower behind those classic curved window counters, a nostalgic neon-and-tile design and even, an actual numbered ticket dispenser and display, akin to a real deli.
But don’t let the wistful approach fool you. DELI is without a doubt, a new-school dispensary. This is apparent in the way they obfuscate the waiting room experience with floor-to-ceiling windows and the numbered tickets, but mostly in their upfront placement of product on shelves. They’re certainly not the first to do so, following in the footsteps of many other new-school dispensaries sprouting up across SoCal, but as the first brand to really lean into a theme in design and concept, the combined effect is a tangible upgrade over the cannabis retail landscape today.
When you walk in, you’re greeted with a couple of sign-in screens before being allowed onto the main floor. From here, you’re free to peruse the shelves, all filled with actual product, stocked all the way to the back of the shelf like a grocery store. Many dispensaries don’t give you direct access to the product and require a budtender to retrieve products on request. Some dispensaries only display demo products, with only empty packaging. While these can seem like tiny distinctions, these small steps drag cannabis retail into the 21st century, opening up the understandably intimidating market to new and curious consumers.
DELI does sell a house strain by the ounce in their custom tea tins (a great, versatile reusable container!) that you can handle on the shelf yourself, but if you want to dig into their full range of flower, you will have to approach the deli-style counter. This is where the numbered tickets come into play, a familiar system for anyone who’s ever bought a sandwich. If it’s particularly busy and you’re waiting for a budtender, grab a number and browse at your leisure until your number comes up on the classic red LED display. Once it does, a trained and knowledgeable budtender will make sure you walk away with the products that best serve your needs.
As mentioned, Caliva is one of those super brands that contains a bunch of smaller brands, so they stock everything that lives underneath the Caliva umbrella. They’re probably the only brick-and-mortar spot in this part of the state to offer their full house suite of flower, pre-rolls and topicals. This includes their main Caliva brand flower, Fun Uncle flower at a slightly lower price point, Reef Leaf flower for the lowest (5 grams for $20? Absurd.) and their more high-end Bad Apple flower line. Aside from their DELI single pre-rolls, Caliva also offers their popular Toasties, cigarette-style pre-rolls that come in packs of 4 for a mere $15, or their Dogwalkers, mini portioned pre-rolls perfect for short outings. Of course, they’ve also got all the other big name brands we’ve come to expect at any Southern California dispensary.
In short, it’s worth coming to check it out simply for the novelty of the concept. The clean design and execution give a glimpse into the possibilities of intentionally designed cannabis retail that isn’t bogged down by legal limitations. The nostalgic feel and atmosphere also make it a perfect place to take cannabis rookie friends and family who might find other dispensaries overwhelming. If that’s not enough, the spacious parking lot and 20% first-time patient discount definitely make this a must-visit.
