They’ve Got Style

FARNSWORTH IS SPIFFING UP THE NORTH END OF GREAT BARRINGTON’S MAIN STREET

By Laura Mars // Photos Courtesy Farnsworth

Style. You can’t help but notice it as you enter 126 Main Street in Great Barrington—it’s kind of like walking into New York’s Cartier or Saks Fifth Avenue. The reception area is flanked with display cases of shiny accessories, from silver and gold ashtrays engraved with the Farnsworth name to vintage lighters, including an ornate table lighter from the estate of Jack Kerouac.

Co-founders Alexander Farnsworth, CEO, and his brother, Brayden Farnsworth, director of operations, opened the dispensary in the spring of 2021. In true family-business fashion, sister Isabella Hatton is brand manager and youngest brother Sterling Hatton is creative associate. Alexander’s partner, New York fashion designer Adam Lippes, also a partner in the business, dressed First Lady Jill Biden in the blue suit she wore to meet the Queen. Style.

“We are one of five LGBTQ-owned and -operated cannabis dispensaries in Massachusetts,” says Alexander, who grew up in a conservative Mormon community in Utah, “and our diversity hiring goal is 65 percent—LGBTQ, women, veterans, and racial minorities. We have an incredible team of 28.”

Alexander first visited the Berkshires in 2012 and immediately thought that it would be a great place for a pot shop. Recreational pot had just become legal in Colorado, and when Massachusetts followed suit in 2016, Farnsworth was ready, using his background in hospitality and lifestyle marketing to develop his vision of a luxury cannabis experience.

“Working in NYC for Andre Balazs Properties—Mercer Hotel, Sunset Beach, Chateau Marmont, Chiltern Street Fire House, and The Standard Hotels in NY, LA, MIA—taught me the importance of creating experiences, whether for escapism, play, or a restful night’s sleep. Hotels are brands that you literally live (or stay) inside of. This means branded beer in the minibar, brand- ed pencils at the front desk, stationery, menus.” He also grew up on Disney film sets in Utah and is a SAG actor. “I learned how to create worlds within worlds—the power of dreaming, the process of creation, and how creativity keeps us all alive. Being queer, and growing up in Utah, I am used to overcom- ing challenges. I persevered.”

Today, the Farnsworth showroom exudes style in neutral colors and backlit display nooks, offering a comfortable shopping experience. Cannabis products are behind glass, but customers can feel the smooth lines of a silver ashtray or cigarette case, or snap shut a lighter top for that distinctive pop. Adding to the nostalgia are the vintage Farnsworth radios that rim the room. They pay homage to Farnsworth’s great uncle, Philo Farnsworth, American inventor with 300 patents and founder of Farnsworth Television and Radio Corporation. “He knew his work would change the future,” says Alexander, “but because he was Mormon, there was no recognition. It’s important to honor his legacy.” A legacy not only of innovation but also of, yes, style.

Farnsworth is a family affair, with siblings running the cannabis dispensary business. They include, from left, co-founder and director of operations Brayden Farnsworth; creative associate Sterling Hatton; brand manager Isabella Hatton; and co-founder and CEO Alexander Farnsworth.

Farnsworth’s accessories account for 20 percent of their business, exceeding expectations and validating Farnsworth’s approach. “We offer luxury at all levels,” Alexander explains, “from $2 rolling papers to a $2,000 diamond necklace. The vintage pieces start a conversation. An amber glass ashtray doubles as a piece of artwork.”

In addition to Farnsworth’s silver and gold accessories and a variety of original pot leaf diamond jewelry, the showroom offers really cool colored glass water bongs from Japan and supple leather cannabis travel cases. Vintage lighters and ashtrays boast names like Dunhill, Walter & Hall, Cartier, St. Dupont, and Gucci.

Alexander, who is responsible for the products, explains, “The vintage accessories represent an era of those who have fought to get us to this moment. There is a history that we are trying to honor.” As for the environment he’s created, he says, “When medical specialists refer patients to us, the setting is important. It should be comforting and validating.”

Which brings us to the cannabis itself. Using quality cannabis from several growing partners, Farnsworth manufactures and sells (in the same building) a variety of products including filtered cannabis cigarettes in light, classic, and bold strengths, lavender body oil, and several types of flowers under the Farnsworth brand. They also sell many products—concentrates, edibles, tinctures, topicals—from other high-end manufacturers.

“Our brand is meant to feel like it’s always been there,” says Alexander, who notes plans to sell the Farnsworth brand elsewhere. “My dream is to see Farnsworth boutiques at international airports.”

According to the 30-year-old CEO, educating the public is an important step toward normalizing the industry, and you can visit them this summer at the Great Barrington Farmers’ Market doing just that. “Different products have different qualities, like vegan, fast-acting, low-sugar,” he explains. “If you are looking for relief from arthritis pain, don’t use a gummy made with sugar, which increases inflammation. There is nothing more gratifying than assisting a customer with a product that works and that they can depend on.”

In a recent move that strengthens their commitment to the future of cannabis and to the Great Barrington community, Farnsworth purchased two properties across the street from 126 Main: a small building for office space and, right next door, the old Getty Station—now Farnsworth Garage— with summer plans that include food trucks and Berkshire Busk performances.

Farnsworth envisions the Garage as a flex space with glass walls that face the river, a place for yoga, book signings, consumption lounges. It’s anoth- er way, he says, to help normalize the can- nabis industry and to recognize it as any other business.

And earlier this year, Farnsworth Fine Cannabis showed that they can combine style and substance by debuting the Queer Cannabis Club (QCC) through a pop-up gifting lounge at the 45th annual Aspen Gay Ski Week. Farnsworth is partnering with beverage brand CANN and Different Leaf journal of cannabis culture. The non- profit QCC is a consortium of LGBTQ+- owned and -operated businesses in the cannabis industry. “We need to fight obstacles associated with being queer and with normalizing cannabis,” says Alexander. “It’s a platform for representation.”