KushKards are greeting cards designed to attach a cannabis product gift like a pre-roll – and ways to attach dab cards and concentrates are coming soon.
Americans purchase approximately 6.5 billion greeting cards each year, according to the Greeting Card Association. KushKards offers 35 handmade card designs, with some seasonal products, and a line of cannabis industry friendly stationary.
Denver-based KushKards went mainstream last year with products featured in New York Fashion Week gift bags, and an appearance at the arts & crafts industry’s Renegade Craft Fair. Available to purchase online, KushKards are also available in over 10 retail locations in five states.
CEO Lauren Miele had a corporate job in Manhattan as an accessory designer for Bed, Bath & Beyond and Target when she started making handmade cards with a cannabis theme.
The idea of gifting cannabis was new. I didn’t want to put weed in a Hallmark bag or something – it seemed cheesy.
Soon, she was giving handmade KushKards for holidays, and friends started asking to buy them. “I created a collection so that I could mass produce them,” she said. Before she knew it, Miele was ready to leave her corporate job (and New York) to join the green rush.
Lauren Miele, CEO of KushKards (Photo provided)
With support from cannabis networking organization WomenGrow, her business started to expand. “WomenGrow were definitely a huge part of my growth. I found out about them when I moved to Denver for my business in 2015,” she said.
Miele said word of mouth is priceless in the cannabis industry, as businesses offer diversity from state to state.
“We do a lot of events to get out into the community. For Valentine’s Day, we did a pop-up shop at The Herbal Cure in Denver. It was ‘buy a card, get a pre-roll for free.’ I sold most of the cards.”
“The energy in Denver is moving fast, and a lot of new people are coming into the cannabis industry. It’s an open space,” she said.
In a stroke of serendipity, Miele found her business partner Daniel Kidd, CEO of Kush Candles, on Instagram. Kush Candles, also based in Denver, makes terpene-infused cannabis candles. “The combination of a KushKard with a Kush Candle is the perfect gift with a lift, we like to say.”
In February, KushKards and Kush Candles had a booth at Champs Trade Show in Las Vegas, with plans to go international this year.
Since we were not like most of the companies and products there, our booth stood out and was most often said it looked like something out of Pinterest. An amazing experience for both of us entrepreneurs to play with the big boys of the industry.
“We showed up and got placement into 50 more shops. It is exciting to see what is happening to the types of products being introduced to the cannabis industry and glad we are here to bring the home, gift, accent type,” Miele said.
The KushKards and Kush Candles display at Champs Trade Show in Las Vegas (Photo provided)
Pre-rolls are the way to someone’s heart according to KushKards customers – The Valentine’s Day ‘High Love You’ card was a top seller. “I thought Christmastime was my biggest holiday, but this time I learned Valentine’s Day is my holiday,” she said.
Miele’s favorite KushKards are ‘All I Weed is You’ and ‘Let’s Blaze Through The Rainy Day.’
The Donut is popular, it’s a different take on a get well card. A few of our get well cards do very well. Some customers say they are giving them to medical cannabis patients.
KushKards has released new product lines of ‘stoner stationary’ – “It’s a play off KushKards but for cannabis creatives and professionals, to help normalize cannabis related activities,” she said.
