Luxury CBD retailer, The Drug Store, has opened it’s first permanent store in London. Following the success of their pop-up stores, the retailer has opened a shop-cum-gallery in Marylebone.
With CBD popularity soaring, legislation and regulation has struggled to keep up. This has led to a lack of trust in some products on the market. However, The Drug. Store aims to give consumers a place to buy with confidence.
Having started out as an online store, which now stocks 18 trusted CBD brands, the retailer began to experiment with pop-up stores. Following the success of the stores, which opened last year in Chelsea and Notting Hill, the group decided to set up permanently in Damian Hirst’s former art gallery.
The store has brought the artistic space back to it’s roots, with beautiful artwork, (some featuring artistic takes on endocannabinoid science), adorning the walls. The products are displayed with the same design principle as their framed counterparts. They are held on clean, white plynths or on minimalist shelves. The name and description of products are even written on gallery-like description plaques.
Source: The Drug. Store
Stocking slightly less products than the website, the 15 brands available at the Marylebone store include popular luxury brands, such as OTO and MedTerra. Founders of the store, Johan Obel and Clemens Böninger commissioned the expertise of medial advisor Dr Julie Moltke, to help them guarantee that all of their products contain 0% THC.
Cannabidiol – or CBD – is a molecule that can be separated from the Cannabis plant. It is widely reputed for having therapeutic and possible health benefits. However, brands and retailers are unable to make any medical claims about the products. This is because CBD is registered as a ‘food supplement’ in the UK.
Although CBD is completely legal in the UK, the lack of clarity in legislation and regulation has been known to lead to legality problems for some products. Trace amounts of CBD are permitted in CBD products, but no more than 1mg per container. In addition to the access to CBD experts, customers can even try out products in one of the treatment rooms.
As The Drug. Store have such rigorous brand requirements, it is rare that new brands are added to their small collection. Products available in store and online include topical creams, roll-on perfumes, and CBD isolate and broad spectrum tinctures.
The store is now open at 14 Hinde Street, Marylebone London.
