Jake Kushner‘s one of the lucky three Montclair locals who was able to secure a highly sought after retail license for Kush Connection, a recreational cannabis shop opening in 2026 on Bloomfield Avenue. We sat down with Jake on this week’s episode of the Montclair Pod to hear about the process of opening up a retail location in Montclair, the rock and roll inspired space, the recession proof business model and the thriving Montclair cannabis community.
rock & roll roots
The Montclair Pod: So Jake, just tell us a little bit about what got you curious about opening your business. What led you to this place of opening Kush Connection?
Jake Kushner: Well I went to C.U. Boulder for college and just being out there, I met a lot of entrepreneurs in the cannabis sector and saw what they were able to accomplish. I’ve always loved cannabis, it’s a big part of my life. When I saw that Montclair, I was born and raised here and graduated Montclair High in 2013, was starting the process of legalization, I started thinking about my own life.
I went to school for creative writing and it’s very difficult to find success in that field. As a young guy, I’ve met a few entrepreneurs including the founder of Planet Fitness, and he always told me to think outside the box when it comes to success. So I decided to try something new, something that would be new for our hometown and something I believed my family would support and help make a reality.
I talked to my parents, who are both in the music industry, and it became the perfect situation. We applied for a license, it worked out, we got it, and we’ve been plugging away since.
I also had a friend who started StarBuds in Colorado, which now has around 30 or 40 locations in multiple states. The things he accomplished were incredible to me. It made me feel like this was the right opportunity for me and my family to get involved in a new industry, especially since the industry my family has historically been in, radio, is in many ways fading. It’s not what it used to be. So again, it ended up being the perfect opportunity for us.
The Montclair Pod: That creative writing background will help you with the naming of various strains and products, I imagine.
Jake Kushner: For sure. We try to bring creativity into everything. Me and my family, we’re all creatives, so we’re trying to do something a little different. I deeply respect Ascend and what they’ve built, but for us, we wanted to create something unique.
I spoke to my friend Michael Grundel, the founder of Planet Fitness, and he told me to give the company a theme. Make it something that isn’t just like walking into a CVS to pick up your product, but something that feels like a destination. So our brand is very music-focused. We’re going to have signed guitars by Ozzy Osbourne on the wall, a Metallica guitar my dad owns, and other pieces of memorabilia. We really want to capture the connection between cannabis and music because they go hand in hand in so many ways.
We have some really interesting creative ideas coming, things I can’t talk about yet, but it’s going to be cool, and I think it will fit the Montclair landscape well. Montclair has such a creative and beautiful vibe. If you look at the stores and restaurants here, it’s a town I really respect, especially growing up in it. We wanted to build something that feels like part of that landscape.
location, location, location
The Montclair Pod: Can you give us a sense of what the timing is looking like for the opening of the business?
Jake Kushner: We just got issued our site and received planning board approval late summer. We had to develop the floor plan and get it to a place where we could submit for construction permits, which we submitted for on all of our exterior renovations about a month ago. We did get those issued for the site permits.
We are now in the process of submitting for our interior construction permits and we are hoping to have those in about a month. It is always difficult to nail down an exact timeline when it comes to construction because there are always hurdles. Even with the exterior work, a lot of it cannot be done once it gets cold. You cannot lay asphalt in cold weather, for example. So it is hard to say with certainty.
I am hoping we will be open by March or April. It could be earlier, but it depends on a number of variables that we are managing right now.
The Montclair Pod: Are you worried about parking or foot traffic? What is giving you confidence about that location?
Jake Kushner: We actually originally applied with a different location on Valley Road, which you might know about. We were moving forward with that site, but when this new space became available at 665 Bloomfield Ave we pivoted. Our original location had very limited customer parking and less room for expansion. When this space opened up, we went for it and made the switch.
I think this location is perfect for retail in Montclair whether it is a dispensary or something completely different. We have a 33 car parking lot which is almost impossible to find on Bloomfield Ave. That alone gives me a lot of confidence. To me, this location could determine whether we are just another dispensary or a dispensary that thrives and gives customers everything they want.
Cannabis retail is a destination business. People do not want to deal with parking issues or accessibility problems. That is what hurt Ascend over time. They had no parking and the area became too congested. Their numbers dropped from what they once were, even though they still performed well overall. They also only had 1,400 square feet and were planning to expand.
The Montclair Pod: Yeah, they bought the space next door.
Jake Kushner: Exactly, but it did not end up working out so they chose to move on.
CANNABIS COMMUNITY
The Montclair Pod: Talk a little bit about the cannabis community in Montclair. Both younger people your age and the generation above you. Your parents are clearly supportive if they are entering this business, so tell us about the cross-generational culture around it.
Jake Kushner: It is an interesting scene. I am also the founder of a Facebook group called the Montclair Cannabis Club. We have about 300 members currently, all Montclair residents, and it is a very diverse group with people of all ages and backgrounds.
Most people in the 25 to 45 range do consume cannabis, but there are also many older residents like my parents’ generation who have been part of cannabis culture for decades. In many ways, they are the reason legalization moved forward. Their viewpoints evolved and helped push society toward acceptance.
We hosted an event for the Montclair Cannabis Club and had members across the spectrum attend. There were people in their mid-twenties alongside others in their sixties and seventies. It showed how wide the community really is.
It is one of the great things about cannabis, especially in a liberal area like Essex County and Montclair. People here respect it and want it to have a place in the community.
License to Grow
The Montclair Pod: Can you talk a little bit about New Jersey state laws? If you had wanted to start this business last year or a few years ago, how would things have been different, harder, or easier than today?
Jake Kushner: It is funny. With cannabis, like any business, it takes time. I have been working on this for three or four years. It started as a project back when I was in Colorado, and it is very time consuming. There is a lot of hurry up and wait. Even when we applied for our license in Montclair, I am very grateful they chose us, but it took a year just to decide who would receive it. During that time, we had to secure property. Landlords are not going to hold a property for free for a year, so you have to pay rent or a holding fee.
There is a lot of red tape and hurdles to make a cannabis business work, but it can be very rewarding once you are operating. One smart part of New Jersey’s approach is leaving it up to municipalities. Montclair is allowing three dispensaries, though it is not guaranteed all three will open because the business is so difficult. Raising money is also a huge challenge. You cannot just go to a bank for a small business loan because cannabis is federally illegal, so most banks will not lend. You have to be creative with funding, which is why many licensees do not make it.
Another advantage of the municipal approach is that towns that voted no to cannabis can be targeted with delivery. There are pros and cons to how New Jersey structured the laws. As a business owner, it can be a great system, but it is also very challenging. Even just zoning in Montclair is tricky. The licensees are allowed only a few blocks on Bloomfield Avenue and one block on Valley Road. We had to find property within that zoning, which was almost impossible when we applied. We got lucky when this space became available, and switching from our previous location was a great decision. I think our customers will agree.
counting the green
The Montclair Pod: Can you give us some insight into the actual financial side? How much money can a dispensary make and what are the margins in cannabis?
Jake Kushner: I try to stay conservative in how I think about my own business, but I was looking at analytics this morning and for example The Botanist is reporting about 30 million over the past 12 months. Profit margins in New Jersey tend to fall between 15 and 20 percent, which is typical for cannabis statewide. These stores perform well.
My fiancée worked at The Apothecarium in Lodi, New Jersey, and they aimed for around 2 million a month in sales. On 4/20 in 2024, their dispensary did about a million in a single day. There is significant opportunity in this industry. I think of it almost like a smaller version of the tech boom in the late 90s and early 2000s. When a new industry emerges, there is room for growth and success.
The Montclair Pod: Wow. It is AI proof. There is no robot coming after you.
Jake Kushner: Exactly. That is what I like about cannabis. It is recession proof and even if there is a crisis or a war, people will always want something to help them feel better. It is a super product. I feel very fortunate and happy to be in this industry and I am grateful for the opportunity.
High Stakes, Limited Supply
The Montclair Pod: One of the big challenges in the industry is the nature of the supply. You can only sell products grown in New Jersey, and anyone who has been to a dispensary knows the inventory changes a lot due to growing cycles and availability. Sometimes people want the same product every time, like with alcohol or cigarettes, but that is not always possible with cannabis. How are you going to handle inventory and suppliers? You have a friend growing in town, but there is only so much he can produce.
Jake Kushner: Yes, that is very true. I already have relationships with several cultivation and manufacturing businesses here in New Jersey. When you start talking publicly, more businesses reach out if they want to work with you. But it is not realistic to rely on just one cultivation business for everything. You need relationships with dozens of companies. In that way, it is similar to a liquor store. You want multiple brands, types of products, and accessories so customers can find what they want within the New Jersey market. Some dispensaries try to carry everything legal in the state, but that is not our approach.
We want to have a curated menu. One of the biggest problems early operators face is buying too much inventory. Cannabis has an expiration date, and if you have product that is expiring, you either cannot sell it or have to heavily discount it. The best approach is to curate the menu with a range of products from lower-tier to top-tier without overstocking. You need something for everyone, but not too much or it creates problems.
That is where my buddy Andrew, from Genuine Grow, will come in. He is going for a high-end approach, and we want his product to be one of our top-tier offerings. We will likely have several top-tier brands, but we plan to highly market his product as grown and sold in Montclair, New Jersey.
a fierce competition
The Montclair Pod: You mentioned there are three licenses Montclair can give out. How is that decided? Is it based on population like liquor licenses?
Jake Kushner: In a way, it is like the Wild West. They left it up to the municipalities to decide. For example, Jersey City has about 60 licenses. Bloomfield allowed six, if I’m not mistaken. Each town could set its own rules. They also scored applications to decide who would get a license. For our license, seven or eight people applied, and only three were awarded. At that point, it was really only two because Ascend already had theirs.
The Montclair Pod: Are any licenses still available, or are all three taken?
Jake Kushner: All three are currently taken. That could change if the other two are not operational by a certain deadline. Licenses have an expiration date, and if a business isn’t up and running, the municipality can reclaim it and start a new application process or give it to someone else.
The Montclair Pod: I remember you mentioned the municipality picked you and there was competition. Do you know how many applications there were? How cutthroat was it?
Jake Kushner: Yes. It was fairly cutthroat. There were maybe seven or eight applications, possibly up to a dozen if you count all the different licenses available for manufacturing, cultivation, and retail. There were more applicants than licenses, so it was competitive.
Some people even threatened lawsuits when they didn’t get a license, which is understandable. It is tough—imagine paying rent on a property and then not being granted a license. Anyone would feel the same way. It was a difficult situation.
The Montclair Pod: It’s a big gamble.
