Stan Michaels, Owner of New Amsterdam Dispensary – Interview Series

Regardless of geographic location, every state cannabis market comes with its own set of distinct advantages and significant challenges. While a market like Nevada relies heavily on continuous tourist spending, others face deep-seated complications caused by unlicensed operators. Similarly, while California enjoys far more favorable cultivation weather than a newer market like Ohio, the “Buckeye State” holds a distinct geographical advantage: it is nearly surrounded by states without recreational access, which naturally boosts its local market.

Home to millions of residents and a magnet for millions more tourists each year, the New York market faces a unique combination of these exact dynamics. To get a closer look at the current landscape, the state of affairs, and what it is truly like to operate in such a vibrant yet complex marketplace, mycannabis.com spoke with Stan Michaels, owner of New Amsterdam Dispensary.

Prior to founding New Amsterdam Dispensary, what industries and roles did you work in? Which roles proved to be the most rewarding or otherwise worthwhile?

Before I started my cannabis business, I spent over 25 years as an operator in the telecommunications, wireless retail distribution, and software development industries. I was a Swiss Army Knife, from building out wireless wholesale distribution networks to designing an international long distance calling app that helped consumers communicate using Voice over IP (VoIP) for mobile phones, a live TV streaming app (example HULU TV). I also built a proprietary wireless POS system back when mobile shops only had access to generic POS systems. 

The most rewarding work was always the building phase of a brand new technology or retail concept. For instance, being one of the first distributors to launch exclusive Cingular Wireless (now AT&T), MetroPCS and FUBU Mobile (Daymond John, Shark Tank) stores in the NY/NJ market, was very satisfying. That mix of high level tech innovation and gritty, everyday retail management was the perfect experience that prepared me for the cannabis industry and definitely representative of my current dispensary design.

Before cannabis started to become recreationally legal (prior to 2012), what industries were considered “emerging industries”? What drew you to working with young companies in those growing industries?

Prior to 2012, the “emerging industries” were early digital media, telecommunications, VoIP, and mobile software development. We were right at the beginning of the smartphone revolution, people were just beginning to use text msg, mobile data and apps. 

What drew me to those industries was the fact that there was cutting edge technology and working with so many different people, cultures, and personalities from everyday families to national celebrities. When we built our PC based wireless POS system, it was the only one of its kind at the time, same for TV Streaming app. I love the energy of young, agile sectors where strategy, fast execution, and grassroots marketing matter, rather than just relying on corporate inertia.

When helping businesses in those emerging industries, which types of businesses were easier or less challenging overall to successfully scale? Which industries proved harder to succeed in than others, and what was usually impeding that success?

In my experience, software driven and digital applications like the VoIP, media streaming and ILD platforms I worked on were always much cleaner to scale. You could reach targeted demographics and affinity groups relatively quickly through digital media and marketing. 

The absolute hardest businesses to scale were the ones that combined heavy physical retail with complex wholesale distribution networks. When you’re dealing with major corporate carriers like AT&T, Sprint, or MetroPCS, you’re up against rigid corporate structures, massive overhead, and intense competition for market share. On top of that, there’s the sheer capital required to build out physical footprints, plus the daily challenge of maintaining real-time operational control across multiple locations and managing all the different personalities involved.

As someone with great experience working in new and upcoming industries, what makes the cannabis industry so unique and opportunity-filled when compared to other “emerging industries”?

Cannabis is a complete anomaly compared to telecom or tech. In the tech world, you often have to spend millions of dollars just to educate the consumer and convince them that they need your new software or app. 

With cannabis, the multi billion dollar demand has been there for generations. We aren’t inventing a consumer habit; we’re just building a legal, transparent pipeline for it. But what makes it truly unique is how deeply it intersects with local culture, community wellness, and social equity. In telecom, you’re selling connectivity. In cannabis, you’re building an entirely new economic engine for the community. Combining that kind of cultural impact with a high growth retail environment is an opportunity you don’t see in many different industries.

What in particular inspired you to enter the New York cannabis industry? How did you leverage your decades of experience working with new industries in founding New Amsterdam?

With my previous legacy experience in cannabis, decades long experience in tech and retail, it was a no brainer. I already knew the NYC retail market. When New York announced it was legalizing cannabis with a heavy focus on social equity and local neighborhood businesses, I knew we had to step up. We didn’t want to see New York’s cannabis culture get swallowed by faceless, out of state corporate conglomerates as it has in other states. I founded New Amsterdam in the Meat Packing District in Chelsea as a family owned shop in the neighborhood I worked in for decades . 

I treated the founding of New Amsterdam exactly like the tech and retail rollouts from my past. I used my 25+ years of experience to: 

• Build an iron clad compliance and retail management infrastructure. 
• Leverage my background in wholesale and retail distribution to secure reliable, top tier supply chains. 
• Design the sales floor layout that’s focused on customers with digital screens for all Brands which provides customers with real time product information, prices and effects and kiosks for direct orders without standing in lines or even talking to a Budtender.
• Apply grassroots and strategic marketing to connect directly with the community, local business and targeted demographics right out of the gate.

What were the most unexpected large issues and roadblocks that you faced when starting up the dispensary, either from the New York Office of Cannabis Management or elsewhere?

To be honest, navigating the early days of the New York legal market required every bit of the resilience I’ve built up over my career. The biggest roadblocks were:

• The Regulatory Gridlock: Shifting timelines, sudden policy pivots, and lawsuits that froze the licensing process meant we had to hold onto prime Manhattan real estate and burn through capital. We were paying rent and keeping staff salaries afloat for months just waiting for the green light to open.
• The Corporate Consolidation: Regulators opened the door for corporations to buy out multiple licenses, giving them the green light to launch huge chains of over 20+ locations. It completely crushes the neighborhood, family-owned dispensaries that simply don’t have that kind of corporate cash flow to compete.
• The Illegal Market Explosion: Trying to run a highly regulated, fully compliant, tax-paying retail operation right next to dozens of unlicensed storefronts that completely ignored every law on the books made the playing field incredibly uneven at the start.
• The Financial Hurdles: Because of federal prohibition and IRS Section 280E, we face a banking landscape that operates with one hand tied behind its back. Not being able to accept standard credit cards, or take normal business deductions for things like rent and payroll, is a massive burden for an independent operator. To put it in perspective, Section 280E alone costs us hundreds of thousands of dollars.

How has the New York cannabis industry changed since New Amsterdam first opened and how did the store and team adapt to those changes? Which were the most difficult new rules or regulations to adjust to?

It’s evolved rapidly since our opening day. We’ve finally seen a real effort to crack down on illicit shops, which has been huge for redirecting consumers to safe, lab tested products.

To adapt, our team focused on what I’ve always done best: optimizing operations and customer retention. We launched a highly efficient delivery service to meet customers where they are and doubled down on training our budtenders to act as educators. The hardest rules to adjust to have been the constant, shifting goalposts regarding packaging, labeling, and marketing compliance. Not to mention the growing chains of corporate dispensaries with dozens of locations and unlimited funding.

What all goes into the curating process for brands and products that are featured on New Amsterdam’s menu? How do you and the team properly decide which brands to feature?

Our philosophy is simple: If We Don’t Sell It, You Don’t Want It. If our team of over 20 people wouldn’t personally use or share it with a close friend, it doesn’t go on our shelves. We have one of the most robust, curated menus in NYC, that is focused on family owned Micro farms, which we carry the most out of any other dispensaries, we are selective about what makes the cut. 

Our vetting process comes down to three strict pillars:

• Data & Lab Verification: We analyze every Certificate of Analysis (COA) to guarantee the product is entirely clean, safe, and accurately dosed.
• The Internal Quality Test: Our team handles and reviews the products firsthand to evaluate everything from cure and flavor profiles to the quality of the extraction.
• Operational & Personal Alignment: Coming from a heavy wholesale background, I look closely at the operational integrity of the Brands we partner with. We prioritize operators who care about sustainability, clean processing, and true product consistency. If a Brand is in every dispensary it’s probably not going to be in ours.

What are some meaningful ways that you and the team highlight local brands and cultivators, especially those cannabis businesses that are BIPOC owned, women-owned, and/or veteran-led?

We don’t just stick equity and local brands on a back shelf and call it a day; we give them the absolute best real estate in the building.

• Prime Retail Placement: We deliberately dedicate our top eye level shelf space and high traffic display areas to New York micro cultivators and diverse led brands.
• Meet the Farmer Showcases: We use our dispensary as a platform, routinely hosting in store pop ups where local cultivators and founders can stand on our floor, share their stories, and talk directly to our customers.
• Digital Tagging & Curation: On our digital menus and ecommerce platforms, we clearly highlight and tag these businesses. If a consumer wants to intentionally vote with their wallet and support a woman , veteran , or BIPOC owned brand, we make it effortless for them to do so.

How could cannabis businesses in both New York and elsewhere benefit from taking a data-driven approach to their operations?

Look, I spent a large part of my career designing a proprietary POS software solution specifically for real time reporting and inventory management, so I am incredibly biased when it comes to data. In cannabis, data isn’t just a bonus it’s what helps us a local neighborhood dispensary compete with these large chain Corp dispensaries. 

A data driven approach is critical for:

• Inventory Control: It lets you see exactly what’s moving, what’s dying on the shelf, and how consumer tastes are shifting in real time (like tracking the exact moment demand shifts from traditional flower to live resin vapes or beverages).
• Labor and Logistics Optimization: By tracking peak traffic hours and delivery radiuses across the city, we can staff our store perfectly, reducing waste while maximizing customer service.
• Targeted Customer Engagement: Data allows us to understand customer habits so we can build smart loyalty rewards that actually matter to them, rather than sending out generic spam.

What do you envision the next few years holding for the New York cannabis industry? How would a federal rescheduling of cannabis impact New York cannabis operators?

The next few years are going to be all about stabilization, the rise of true craft culture, and finally seeing indoor consumption licenses become a widespread reality. New York has the potential to become the mecca of craft cannabis, where small-batch, independent New York growers finally get the mainstream recognition they deserve.

Bringing indoor consumption lounges into the landscape is going to completely elevate that vision. It’s going to merge the cannabis industry with New York’s legendary hospitality and nightlife culture. We’ll finally move past simple, quick retail transactions and start creating actual community spaces where people can socialize safely, learn about the plant, and experience cannabis the way it was meant to be enjoyed. Even now we set up lounging areas in New Amsterdam allowing customers to hang out, meetup with friends or play games. 

As for federal rescheduling. If it moves to Schedule III, it will fundamentally transform the entire industry overnight. The biggest victory by far will be the elimination of IRS Section 280E. Right now, cannabis retailers are essentially penalized just for existing, paying taxes on gross profits without the ability to deduct standard operational costs like rent, payroll, or marketing. Getting rid of 280E will instantly inject vital cash flow back into independent businesses like New Amsterdam, allowing us to hire more local staff, reinvest in our community, and pass savings directly down to our customers.

Thank you for joining us, Stan! For more information on New Amsterdam Dispensary, please visit its website.