House of Hibernica delivers free to the Bronx in October
This up-and-coming Pelham Bay dispensary is expanding delivery access in the Bronx and southern Westchester County this month. Don't miss this.
In April, House of Hibernica became the ninth dispensary to open its doors in the Bronx. In just six months, Hibernica has become a popular neighborhood. All month long, the store is expanding access to legal cannabis with free delivery throughout the Bronx.
Hibernica's community events cater to the tastes of the local neighborhood, including watch parties celebrating local sports teams such as the Knicks and Yankees. This summer, Hibernica offered a free car wash on Saturdays with any purchase over $50.
This summer, droves of new customers discovered Hibernica after unlicensed businesses closed nearby. With Halloween just around the corner and the Yankees and Mets on the rise, House of Hibernica invites all Bronx lovers to order free delivery or come in person this October.
Stay close to the facility
Chris Ortiz, warehouse manager at House of Hibernica, told the Bronx Times, “It feels like a dream job. My wife asks me how the work was and I say the work was great. I love my job. You have become part of the community. You are no longer their dealer. You’re a businessman.”
Bojan Trpcevski, general manager of Hibernica, told Leafly: “The first time I used cannabis was in my early twenties. At that time, where I came from in Macedonia was a bad thing. Over there you still have to look over your shoulder when you light up a joint. You used to go to jail for a joint.” In 2016, Macedonia legalized medical marijuana. At the time, Trpcevski was working in the hotel industry in New York.
3220 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY – Leisure
“When COVID happened, everything stopped with restaurants,” he told Leafly. “So we had the idea to get involved in the cannabis industry. We knew the basics, but I wanted to see the whole thing. So I went to Humboldt County, California and familiarized myself with the entire process. From the seed to the whole plant to its growth. Then the restaurants reopened after COVID and we continued with that. When we heard it was going to be legalized, it gave us an opportunity to get into this business.”
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House of Healing
When Trpcevski's father became ill with cancer, he urged his father to try the plant. Trpcevski said, “While he was going through therapy, I tried to explain to him that cannabis would help him with pain.” To Trpcevski's surprise, his father said, “No, those are drugs, I don't want that.” But then a friend said from him, the doctor is that the cannabis oil could be helpful. So one day he comes to me and says, 'How can I get this?'”
Trpcevski is visibly frustrated but relieved by the result. “I’ve been telling you this for a year,” he said to his father. “It's harder for the older generation to understand that cannabis can be helpful for them,” he said. “Now my father takes a little cannabis oil every evening. He tells me, 'I sleep like a baby, it's amazing.'”
Another Hibernica employee added to the stories of family healing: “The Ayrloom Calm vape brought so much comfort and peace to the whole family, not just my parent who was suffering from cancer.”
Trpcevski said he has also seen his restaurant patrons advocate for the facility. “When I was working at the bar, I had a customer who was constantly using indica because of a serious illness,” he told Leafly. “He told me it was really helpful for him. So once people know more about the product, it becomes easier for them to accept and try cannabis.”
The long road to the opening
Like most New York dispensaries, House of Hibernica experienced a rollercoaster of emotions before opening in the spring. “It took a whole year from applying for the license to opening,” Trpcevski said. “We had to have a business to apply. Then the injunction came in 2022. So we paid rent for a year.”
Trpcevski said his team “had no idea it would be so difficult.” We thought it would be similar to the restaurant industry because we had already opened a few. We thought it would be similar. I didn’t expect that we would wait so long and that every little thing would stop the whole process.”
In addition to the delays, some neighbors were initially unfriendly. “A lot of people here were hesitant to come in. They thought it was another illegal smoke shop. We spent a lot of time explaining to people that this is a legal dispensary. Even when we presented our plan to the community board before the opening. A lot of people said, “Oh no, another one.” So we got yelled at and booed by the community board. But we tried to explain that it’s not what they think.”
Trpcevski is proud to say, “I'm talking to people now from that meeting and they say, 'Now we know what you're talking about.' This is great.' And we have people from this community working here – 80% of my employees are from the Bronx. We’ll even have a neighborhood band come over and play music.”
The challenges of running a New York pharmacy
3220 Westchester Ave, Bronx, NY – Leisure
For all the triumphs of finally opening, there are still challenges. Like customers who are not used to buying legally.
Trpcevski said many new customers are “used to buying eights for $20 on the street or in illegal smoke shops.” Every day we try to explain to people that they are not the same product. It goes through a laboratory, every single item has all these certificates. And we still have to pay taxes on top of that. That's why the product is more expensive.” With the flood of new business this summer, the Hibernica team sometimes spent 10 to 15 minutes educating new customers.
When you first start running a pharmacy, there are even more challenges. Hibernica's team said: “Some medical patients don't want to shop here because we don't require medical licenses, so they are confused. They think we’re not legitimate.”
“When we announced our grand opening online, we could only use cannabis marketplaces like Leafly because we weren't on Google. From day one, we were all overwhelmed by the community's reception. All the neighbors came in and said, 'We've been waiting for you!'”
Allie Caney, House Hibernica
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