The Black women redefining California’s cannabis market – one curated store at a time

Gorilla Rx founder Kika Keith wanted her dispensary to feel like a grocery store, but also a little like a roller skating rink. Photograph: courtesy of Gorilla Rx Wellness Co

When Kika Keith and her daughter opened a cannabis dispensary in South Los Angeles last year, they faced a design challenge: how could they create a store where older Black customers, who had seen all the ravages of the “war on drugs”, would feel comfortable making a purchase?

It had been a tough battle for Keith to open a dispensary as a Black woman, in a post-legalized marijuana market where most of the business owners had become white men. She and her daughter, Kika Howze, wanted their store, Gorilla Rx Wellness Co, to reflect their focus on neighborhood investment and their hip-hop aesthetic.