“To me, it was love at first sight,” states Howard Libron, owner of Orange County’s first legal storefront cannabis dispensary, fondly recalling his first cannabis encounter at age 12. Growing up immersed in New York’s underground weed culture, he envisioned that one day, Orange County Cannabis would be his calling.
Howard always possessed an entrepreneurial spirit. In the 1980s, he began selling cannabis in the Bronx and then moved to Orange County in 1991, where he continued in the legacy market. Over the years, Howard started several small businesses—a string of cellphone stores and later a Subway franchise, but he never lost his passion for cannabis.
Decades later, the stars aligned, and Howard received one of the first retail dispensary licenses in the Hudson Valley region, making him the pioneer pot merchant in his adopted home. Believing cannabis would be his future, either in the legal or legacy market, Howard positioned himself for years under the name Orange County Cannabis. Howard secured the perfect location right off the junction of Routes 84 and 17M in the Town of Wawayanda, on the borders of Middletown, Wallkill, and Goshen, all of whom opted out of dispensaries. With about 25,000 cars driving into downtown Middletown daily and Amazon building a four-million-square-foot facility nearby, Howard says, “I found the pot of gold, no pun intended.”
When the doors opened in January, he was overwhelmed with emotions as he took his first steps into the sleek, orange-hued, oasis-like dispensary. “I set the model and tone,” Howard declares, still processing his ascendance from local legacy operator to now welcoming the masses to partake legally. With a bright, open floor plan, educational displays, and helpful, knowledgeable staff, the dispensary offers a warm and guided retail experience.
His daughter, Chantel, is the store’s operations manager. Overseeing daily affairs, Chantel mingles with recreational newcomers and medical loyalists. Nearly 1,000 visitors flood the shop daily, making Orange County Cannabis an early cannabis sensation. They attract area “soccer moms” and older generations, who can finally make legal purchases.
Howard pinches himself daily against this backdrop of containers of glistening, pungent flowers and the impressive assortment of edibles and other consumables. He calls receiving a license “a blessing,” especially given his former cannabis offenses, and to have his life’s passion now uplift other small entrepreneurs through this retail space speaks to his big-picture vision.
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For Orange County Cannabis, success is about giving back to the local community. As a minority-owned small business, they try to stock products from other small operators and social equity licensees across the state.
The store also provides guidance to other dispensary owners navigating the process of opening up. This nascent industry has a learning curve, and Orange County Cannabis sees itself as setting the example. Chantel calls the first few months "operating like a first-time parent" with no guidebook but learning as they go. As New York's cannabis industry grows, Orange County Cannabis aims to lead with premium service, competitive pricing, and a community-focused mission.
With New York cannabis still maturing, its future has limitless potential to transform culture and norms. The Libron family and their trendsetting dispensary feel privileged to have turned advocacy into accessibility — one bud at a time!
