Terp Bros in the New York borough of Astoria, Queens, is already making a profit less than a year after the social equity shop opened last October – and owner Jeremy Rivera has high hopes for the future.

He attributes much of that optimism to the state and city’s recent crackdown on unlicensed marijuana shops that had been undercutting his and other perfectly legal cannabis dispensaries. A month ago, the City of New York and the Sheriff’s Department said they had shut down nearly 800 unlicensed shops. The state task force said it had shut down another 345 unlicensed cannabis shops in other parts of New York. And although the state task force’s mandate has expired, the city’s enforcement initiative — dubbed Operation Padlock — is ongoing.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and regulators at the Office of Cannabis Management have repeatedly pointed to an increase in legal cannabis sales as a result of the measures, and Rivera said that increase in sales is very real, not just for him but arguably for everyone involved in the legal cannabis trade.

“It’s going much better than expected,” said Rivera. “We are very grateful for the gradual growth we have seen month after month since the tobacco shops closed. The number of new customers has increased dramatically.”

“It’s made a difference not just for me, but for every legal cannabis operator, for the entire supply chain, from the processors and farmers … to the retailers,” Rivera said. “We’re profitable … In the five boroughs, we’re in the conversation to be in the top five. I don’t know exactly where we are, but it’s going pretty well.”

Continuing the upswing

Rivera also suggested that most unlicensed stores will likely remain closed because existing store owners took advantage of cannabis decriminalization to sell marijuana for as long as possible before beginning a real crackdown. He doesn’t believe New York City will face the same problem as Los Angeles and other cities that are struggling with entrenched illegal operators.

“In New York, a lot of these people who get fined are made to close their stores, and they say, oh, we’ll just go back to being a grocery store or a convenience store,” Rivera said. “Many of them don’t want to go through the hassle because they don’t like the factory.”

Instead of focusing on competing with the black market, Rivera said his main focus now is on marketing.

“Presence. Marketing. Building a brand is more than just the cannabis dispensary and trying to get it in people’s minds,” Rivera said when asked what the biggest business hurdles he is currently facing are.

If the New York industry continues to grow at this pace, Rivera said he would ultimately like to pursue interstate expansion or perhaps make acquisitions within New York to grow Terp Bros into a small chain and a larger brand.

“I’m not bad at it. I’m new at it, but I’m not bad at it. I can really see myself growing this brand,” Rivera said. “I’d like to replicate this in other states that have social justice programs.”

For now, Rivera is content to continue learning and improving Terp Bros and building on the community reinvestment programs his business and other social justice entrepreneurs — like Coss Martes Conbud — are currently putting together. On Tuesday, for example, Rivera said his staff and Martes planned a paintball tournament, and a pickleball tournament is planned for the weekend.

He is also considering throwing a Halloween street party to celebrate Terp Bros’ first birthday.

“There’s some really cool shit happening. And this is just the beginning,” Rivera said of New York’s growing legal cannabis presence.