More than a dispensary: How Premo is building a movement in New Jersey cannabis

About Premo

Founded in 2023 in Keyport, New Jersey, Premo Cannabis is a family-owned dispensary rooted in legacy, community, and culture.

The business is co-owned and operated by two father-son duos—Darrin Chandler Jr. and Sr., and Skye and Donald Blanks—bringing together diverse backgrounds in music, real estate, fitness, and the legacy cannabis market to create a premium yet inclusive retail destination.

Their mission?

Deliver world-class customer service and exceptional cannabis products while uplifting the local community. As a community-first, Black-owned business, the focus is on inclusion, education, and destigmatization.

Housed in a restored historic building, the Premo space feels more like an art gallery or flagship boutique than a traditional dispensary—complete with museum lighting, high ceilings, and a sleek tech-forward flow.

The intention was to transcend the transaction, combining thoughtful curation with a deeply personal vibe.

Despite operating in a one-square-mile town, Premo has made a statewide impact. Within its first year, the store ranked as a top 10 independent dispensary in New Jersey and is consistently in the top 10% of all cannabis retailers in the state.

Choosing Flowhub

From day one, the Premo team has run its operation on Flowhub.

Premo's operational model is built on speed, simplicity, and adaptability, and they needed a point of sale solution that could keep up.

With partners in Colorado, the team had some legacy input on POS providers. People they trust recommended Flowhub, so they got a demo. As the team evaluated other systems, Flowhub stood out for its intuitive design and flexible integrations.

What tipped the scales for Skye was the seamless user experience and partner ecosystem. “It's not just one giant POS company that locks me into their ecosystem, Flowhub lets us build a unique stack,” says Skye.

Customer experience: Loyalty, personalization, and flow

Customer experience is the heartbeat of Premo—and Flowhub helps keep it consistent.

When customers walk in, they’re greeted by name and welcomed into what LaVarr Parker, Assistant Manager, describes as a nice, clean, and happy environment. That experience is powered by Flowhub Greet® for fast, reliable check-ins, Flowhub POS for smooth transactions, and seamless integrations with tools like Dispense and Alpine IQ.

“Flowhub makes verification a lot easier. We simply scan the IDs. It validates the ID for us. If there’s any issue, Flowhub lets us know immediately,” says LaVarr.

Budtenders personalize each interaction using customer notes, order history, and loyalty status synced in Flowhub. Skye says it’s all about creating familiarity and making people feel at home.

Mobile workflows are central to their model. Guests can browse and buy in three ways:

1. Pre-order online (with dedicated pickup lines)

2. Self-order via in-store kiosks

3. Consult with roaming budtenders on the floor

The result? A premium shopping experience, but at affordable prices.

Inventory management: Curated, controlled, and mobile

Darrin leads all purchasing at Premo and credits Flowhub with helping him stay focused, intentional, and compliant.

“We’re highly selective about how we curate and how we pick our vendor partners,” Darrin explains. “I don’t want it to be a transactional relationship. I just don’t want to buy products from you. We’re very brand-heavy and very marketing-centric.”

Flowhub helps him track fast-moving inventory and make informed buying decisions—remotely, if needed.

“I could damn near do my job remote, but I love coming here. That’s what Flowhub allows me to do. It keeps our shelves stocked and it keeps our budtenders with something interesting to talk to the customers with,” says Darrin.

LaVarr, who oversees day-to-day operations at Premo, leans heavily on Stash®—Flowhub’s mobile inventory management app—for intake, audits, and on-the-fly corrections.

“I couldn’t imagine not using Stash. I’d probably be a lot thinner from going up and down the stairs all the time,” jokes LaVarr.

Reporting and compliance: Streamlined, stress-free

Flowhub plays a critical role in ensuring Premo stays 100% compliant with New Jersey’s strict cannabis regulations. “We’re a compliance-heavy team,” says LaVarr. “We can’t afford to make mistakes.”

With Flowhub’s built-in real-time Metrc sync, team members are alerted if a transaction pushes the legal purchase limit or if a package isn’t properly received. The system also helps reduce discrepancies and training errors.

“I learned a lot by using Flowhub, to be honest—as far as what I can do, what we can’t do, what’s in compliance, what’s not in compliance. It’s just amazing,” says LaVarr.

The Premo team also uses the View® app daily for live performance tracking. “View gets more screen time than YouTube,” Darrin jokes. “We send screenshots in our group chat. I don’t have to open up a link or my laptop.”

For finance and accounting, Flowhub integrates seamlessly with QuickBooks through Racetrack, making life easier behind the scenes.

The impact with Flowhub

In less than a year, Premo has built one of the most successful independent dispensaries in New Jersey—supported by a passionate team, deep community ties, and Flowhub as their operational backbone.

The team is already planning to open one new store per year and sees Flowhub as a key partner in that growth.

LaVarr concludes, “Your POS system is everything. Flowhub makes sure Premo is able to grow into what we are growing into. Without Flowhub, I think it would be a different story.”

Thank you to Darrin, Skye, LaVarr, and the entire Premo team for sharing your story with us. We’re honored to be part of your family legacy.