“I am honored to be recognized alongside the talents of these national and international firms. I want to prove to the world that cannabis is an elegant, beautiful product..”
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., – (February 17, 2016) — Megan Stone, owner of The High Road Design Studio, has been named a finalist in the prestigious 23rd Annual A.R.E. (Association for Retail Environments) Design Awards Competition for her design and execution of the cannabis concentrates bar at TruMed, a Phoenix medical marijuana dispensary.
The national award recognizes game-changing retail design. Stone, who specializes in retail design for cannabis companies, was nominated in the Store Fixture Category. Her innovative vision for the concentrates bar was to provide a polished and modern cannabis shopping experience for the client’s specialty product line.
Stone, who founded her company as the first firm to specialize in cannabis retail design, is in good company. Other A.R.E. Design Award finalists include CHANEL, Target, Timberland, Nordstrom, Bergmeyer, and Gensler.
“I am honored to be recognized alongside the talents of these national and international firms. I want to prove to the world that cannabis is an elegant, beautiful product and creating TruMed’s concentrate bar gave me the opportunity to do just that. My goal was to display the product as though it were as luxurious as fine jewelry or as decadent as gourmet confections. In doing so, my client was able to set themselves apart from their competition and maintain their reputation as a connoisseur’s brand.”
The award ceremony takes place at the Four Season Hotel in Las Vegas on March 23rd, the opening night of GlobalShop, a retail industry trade show. The award is presented in conjunction with the Point of Purchase Advertising International (POPAI).
As a finalist, Stone’s TruMed project will be included in the annual Retail Environments Winner’s Book and handed out to Design Award event attendees at GlobalShop. The book will also be mailed to subscribers of Retail Environments magazine.
Stone has received numerous accolades for her work and was a recipient of the 2015 Designer Dozen Award, presented by Visual Merchandising and Store Design Magazine (VMSD) and recognizing emerging stars in the design industry.
In addition to Arizona, Stone has worked nationally with marijuana dispensary clients in eight other states including Washington, California, Colorado, New Mexico, Illinois, Nevada, Oregon and New Hampshire. Stone has a Bachelor of Science in marketing from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management, and an Associate of Arts in Interior Design from the Interior Designer’s Institute, has spoken throughout the country about design and best practices for cannabis retailers. She is also a contributing editor for MG Magazine, a leading cannabis industry publication.
See more photos of Tru | Med’s Concentrate Bar, and other cannabis retail design projects by The High Road Design Studio.
