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Customer Spotlight: How A Little Bud Became BC’s Most Awarded Cannabis Retail Store


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In 2017, Randy Tingskou was running a small medical dispensary in Abbotsford. Today, he’s the owner of A Little Bud – British Columbia’s most awarded cannabis store that’s shaking up the scene in a big way. With locations in White Rock, Whistler, and Summerland, A Little Bud is quickly expanding its footprint and charming customers with impeccable service. But even with their explosive growth, Randy and his crew remain steadfast in their mission. So, what’s the secret behind A Little Bud’s runaway success? Read on as we dissect one of BC’s most fascinating cannabis retail stories to date.

From Personal Challenge to Purposeful Business

Randy’s journey into cannabis was born of necessity. In 2016, his wife was facing serious medical challenges, and traditional treatments just weren’t cutting it. “We tried a whole bunch of different things,” he recalls. “She was on the fence about cannabis… we ended up finding some formulations that worked really well for her.”

Randy’s wife found relief through cannabis. But Randy couldn’t find a steady supply of the medicine she needed – so he decided to become a “supplier” himself. “One thing led to another, and it inspired us to open our own shop,” he says. In 2020, A Little Bud transitioned to recreational sales. But it has remained committed to normalizing cannabis through education and positive customer experiences. “We love when someone comes in for the first time and they meet a friendly budtender,” Randy continues. “They’re nervous. They’re scared. The next thing you know, they’re leaving with a smile, and half the time the budtenders are getting a hug or a high five. That transformation is what makes this work so rewarding.”

Breaking Stigmas and Building Relationships

It was his wife’s health that first drove Randy to open a dispensary. But after nearly 10 years in the business, he says his number-one priority now is to continue breaking down the myths and misconceptions around cannabis one customer at a time. “There’s still a lot of stigmas, a lot of preconceived notions,” he says. “A lot of the stigmas we find are from people who haven’t actually had the experience, so they have it in their head that it’s going to be a certain way.”

This mindset of meeting wary customers with kindness, compassion, and education has served A Little Bud incredibly well. Not only have Randy and co. opened three highly successful locations inside of four years, they’ve gathered an impressive collection of awards along the way. A Little Bud’s flagship location in White Rock won the “Best in Cannabis” category in 2021 and 2023 and took home the 2024 Large Business of the Year trophy, while the Whistler location was recognized as the top retailer and overall winner in the 2024 Whistler Chamber Secret Shopper Program. 

“Customer service is something I felt was dying,” Randy explains. “Everything has gone more digital, and there’s just less time for the consumer. One thing we make a point of doing is we always have extra staff, so when people come in, it doesn’t have to be a two or three minute transaction. Sometimes newer customers need that time to get comfortable, learn the products, and learn how it all works. So we’ve always made sure we’ve got extra staff on hand so we can spend time with people.”

“Of course we face the same everyday challenges you’re going to face in any business,” Randy continues. “You’re going to have lots of competition. You’re going to have to find staff members. And the stigma around cannabis makes it more difficult to find new locations. Landlords are hesitant. Banking’s more difficult. It’s like a regular business, just five times harder.”

Despite the difficulties, Randy and his team are dedicated to busting stereotypes and being positive community participants. “We’re deeply involved in what we do at each location,” says Jeremy Gabel, A Little Bud’s Director of Operations. “We love spending time with cannabis-curious customers, helping them feel comfortable and informed.”

Picking the Right Technology Partner

Randy’s vision of going from a small, single-location operation to a thriving cannabis retail chain was bold. To pull it off, he knew he’d need to step things up in terms of technical support and software. “My business partner and I took a tour through all the legal states,” Randy explains. “We checked out about 150 stores across the United States. We chatted with a lot of the business owners, and we found that Cova was the predominantly used POS system down there. And we figured if it was good enough for the states, it would be good enough for the volume that we do here in Canada.”

“We see about 500 customers on a slow day for our White Rock store,” Jeremy adds. “On peak days, we’re hitting like 700 customers, and most of them are using a debit card or credit card.” With that kind of volume, Randy and Jeremy don’t have time for system outages or sluggish transactions. “In the beginning, we were using a different POS that we weren’t very happy with,” Jeremy continues. “We also had a lot of struggles with the payment processor we were previously using. It was to the point where someone would tap their card, and they’d have to wait 60 seconds while the transaction was approved. And when I brought these concerns up to them, they just kind of brushed them off.”

“We anticipated this would be a busy store, and it is,” Randy says, referencing the White Rock location. “Cova’s been able to keep up quite well.” 

As director of operations, Jeremy says he especially appreciates Cova’s technical support. “We’ve had very, very few issues with Cova. And anytime I have had an issue, the support team is absolutely fantastic. I can’t remember the last time I waited more than two minutes on the phone before I got to talk to a human being. Most of the time, if it’s a service outage or something like that, they usually know before I do so by the time I get a hold of somebody, they’re already working on it.”

For Randy, Cova’s automated reporting and dashboard features have been gamechangers. “Especially since we’re running multiple locations, it’s really nice to get my reports that I would normally have to manually search and generate emailed to me automatically. I get all the data, all the analytics, and I can actually live track what’s going on with the day. So I can look for anomalies and busy times, places where we need more staffing, and where we can deliver better customer service.” Because at the end of the day, customer satisfaction is A Little Bud’s mission – and it’s a mission Cova is thrilled to play a part of.

Ready to see how Cova’s dispensary technology solutions can help you elevate your customer service game? Book a demo today at the link below.

 

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