One of the most unique and, to be frank, awesome dispensaries we’ve partnered with is the Monster House Dispensary. Cannabis has been in the lives of co-founders Maggie Marble and husband Marc Splawn for a long time as Marc is a disabled veteran and they rely on cannabis as medicine.
When New Mexico legalized recreational cannabis, Maggie and Marc weren’t too impressed with the price of cannabis or with the available dispensaries.
They thought, ‘we can do this differently, and cooler.’
With Monster House, we’d say they’ve done just that as they now have four stores across Las Cruces and Ruidoso, New Mexico and are working on store number five and six.
The Incomparable Monster House Dispensary
The first thing that strikes you when entering Monster House or visiting their website is the classic horror aesthetic. It comes from Maggie and Marc who both grew up watching 80s slasher movies and have never fallen out of love with the horror vibe. As Maggie puts it, “We did the whole Frankenstein and his Bride theme because that's, you know, our story, mine and my husband, so we just took that and ran with it.”
But the awesomeness of Monster House goes much deeper than a horror look. What they’ve really achieved is creating a culture and a community through their aesthetic and through cannabis.
This community is both in-store and online.
Their dispensaries feature consumption lounges where up to 45 guests can chill, hang out and listen to live music and other feature events put on by Monster House.
They also have their own app on the App Store and Google Play, not where they do ecommerce, but where they connect with their community — their ‘little monsters’. It’s the perfect fit for such a strong brand because the fans can find out about sales, see the menu, and, perhaps most importantly, share in Maggie’s memes and the whole vibe and culture of Monster House.
There’s Nothing Scarier Than The Unknown
When Maggie and Marc set out to open the first Monster House Dispensary, they had a wealth of relevant experience to draw on. Marc was military and then worked in the Department of Defense, meaning he has federal experience and is a specialist at contract negotiation. As for Maggie, she explains her wide range of experience as, “Everything under the sun: a bank teller, insurance sales, hospitality, home healthcare, just so much in the past 20 years.”
But neither of them really knew what to expect when opening a dispensary. They knew what they wanted, just not how to get there. The unknown can really make a project feel overwhelming, to the point where it can be hard to even start. But as Maggie aptly says, “the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.”
And that’s exactly what they did. Just picking off the chunks of that elephant and getting it done one chomp after another. Then, after opening the first store successfully, the second was much easier as they had an understanding of the process.
The Search For a POS Provider
One of the most important things a cannabis dispensary needs is the right POS provider. This was especially true for Monster House with their ambitious goals of opening multiple locations very quickly.
So, how did they arrive at the decision to go with Cova?
They just did a Google search, found us (that’s a win for SEO), filled out the contact form, and connected with Ryan, one of our sales reps. Once they spoke with him, they felt they had found the right fit.
“Within my first or second call with Ryan, he walked us through the whole process, told us what to expect, told us pricing and I felt immediately that he really got us,” said Maggie. “Then when I saw the demo and the options, it just made it so much easier for us as a new dispensary. Plus, the cost was very minimal.”
Convenience & Reliability
As Monster House has thrived and expanded, Cova has been right there as a convenient and reliable partner. For Maggie, one of the best things about Cova is the back-end.
“I love that I can access my manifests, my invoices, my cash handling — all remotely from my phone,” Maggie notes. “That's made it incredibly convenient for me as a business owner, especially with having multiple locations across hundreds of miles. I can see the snapshot of my dispensary at any point in time.”
Along with the ease of use and reliability tracking sales and inventory, she notes that Cova has also been reliable because it is always on. In the two years that Monster House has been partnered with Cova, Maggie estimates Cova has been down maybe a total of two hours.
The Future is Monstrous
Maggie and her husband Marc have done an incredible job creating one of the most interesting and community-driven dispensary brands we’ve ever seen. They’ve done it with hard work and big ambition. In two years, they have four locations and are actively looking to expand to more.
But with such a strong aesthetic and community following, Maggie and Marc are actually thinking even bigger than that. They have plans to launch apparel, coffee, and, as Maggie says, “The sky’s the limit. We want to build an empire and we’re just going to continue to diversify and build our brand.”
We couldn’t be more excited to see where Monster House goes next, and we’re extremely proud to be one of their technology partners, helping them achieve their dreams.