Secaucus Pot Shop Harmony Begins Recreational Sales For First Time

SECAUCUS, NJ — At 10 a.m. Wednesday, March 1, Secaucus marijuana shop Harmony started recreational pot sales for the very first time.

This means that Harmony — which up until today was only allowed to sell pot to medicinal customers — can now sell marijuana to any member of the general public. You do not need a medical ID card; simply walk right in.

You have to be 21 to enter the shop; they are very strict and require everyone to show ID at the door. As we reported in January, a second marijuana business called Floro seeks to open right across the street from Harmony, next to the pet cremation business. The status of their application before the town is unknown.

This came after last May's vote by the Secaucus town Council to allow Harmony to expand into recreational sales. Two on the Council, Councilwoman Orietta Tringali and Councilman Jim Clancy, voted against it. Tringali specifically told Patch at the time she was concerned about the impact recreational marijuana would have on Secaucus teens and children.

The remaining elected Council members — Rob Costantino, Bill McKeever (who initially was also opposed, but then changed his mind on second vote), John Gerbasio and Mark Dehnert, plus Mayor Mike Gonnelli, all approved allowing Harmony to begin recreational pot sales.

Costantino is perhaps the Secaucus elected official who is most enthusiastic about New Jersey's marijuana business, which is booming now that a majority of voters approved making pot legal in a historic April 2022 vote.

"There is a stigma around marijuana that is not around alcohol," said Costantino. "You come home at night and you have a scotch or a drink after work. Why is that not shamed? Everything has to be done and consumed responsibly."

Costantino is such a supporter that he swung by Harmony Wednesday morning to congratulate Harmony CEO Shaya Brodchandel for his expansion into recreational marijuana sales.

Costantino does not deny having personally used marijuana.

"Now that the legislation changed and they can do recreational sales, I'm here to support them, speaking for myself," said Costantino. "As legislation changes, so do we, right? We did vote to allow this. Hopefully there will be lots of revenue coming in."

Two percent of every sale Harmony makes goes to taxes. In 2022, Harmony paid about $200,000 in taxes to the town of Secaucus.

"Hopefully, that will creep up closer to a million once the revenue comes in," said Costantino. "This company follows the rules. There has been no issue with police here since they opened in 2018. They are not in the center of town. I think they're going to be a good neighbor here in Secaucus. I compare it to a liquor store, I really do. Anything that you are able to do once you become an adult, you have to do responsibly."

Harmony sells a range of pot products and their prices have dropped from when they first opened (their prices were in the $200-range when they first opened a few years ago): The dried pot called "flower" to smoke, which sells for $60, marijuana lozenges to suck on ($30 for a pack of 10), oil cartridges for vaping ($80) and even marijuana-infused skin creams, which Brodchandel said people put on sore muscles and can relieve pain.

Brodchandel is working rapidly to expand his marijuana business in Hudson County:

He plans to open a satellite Harmony pot store at 95 Hudson Street in Hoboken ("a very good location, by the PATH train"), and a third location is planned for Coles Street right next to the Holland Tunnel and Home Depot in Jersey City. Jersey City will be Harmony's biggest store, and will have a pot-consumption lounge on the second floor. The Jersey City store is in the final stages of construction, he said.

The Secaucus store is not allowed to have an on-site pot consumption lounge.

Harmony also operates a marijuana grow facility in Lafayette in Sussex County, where they grow the marijuana.

But Harmony does also grow marijuana in Secaucus; there is a 5,000 square-foot space in the back of their Secaucus store where they grow marijuana plants. Brodchandel did not allow this Patch reporter to tour it, citing sanitary concerns.

Brodchandel said he thought Harmony would have been approved for recreational cannabis sales in October — they were on the list to be approved at that time by the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission — but were unexpectedly not given the green light.

"We have been tabled before. There was a lot of back and forth; the state has to go through many different reviews," he said.

"I consume marijuana," said Brodchandel, who is 36. He said he started as an adult. "I was working in the pharmaceutical industry at the time and my grandmother had a very hard time sleeping, extreme pain in her back. Her doctor referred her to cannabis. She slept for the first time in two years. It was life changing. That led me into the whole world of cannabis. I use cannabis occasionally and I think that if something if done responsibly, it's like drinking a glass of wine. It can be used responsibly."

"The issue of adults purchasing a product and handing it over to kids can happen in liquor stores — there are liquor stores in Secaucus — it can happen in any bodega that sells tobacco," he said. "This is a product meant for adults. Completely trying to shut out the subject is not going to help children learn what's good, what's bad and how to interact with it. We're interested in helping people get access to safe cannabis ... and also educate our children not to overdo it. It's not for everyone but it shouldn't be not accessible to those who want it."

2nd Retail Marijuana Shop Seeks To Open In Secaucus (Jan. 2023)

Secaucus May Allow Add'l Pot Shops To Open Around Harmony (March 2022)

3 On Secaucus Town Council Voted Against Recreational Pot Sales (May 2022)