The independent, Black-owned New Jersey cannabis retailer is opening its second location with a focus on hospitality, community, and a retail experience built to feel less corporate and more personal.
Premo is taking its next step in New Jersey cannabis with the opening of Premo Dover, the company’s second retail location and its first expansion beyond Keyport. Located at 330 S. Salem St., Ste. 6, the new shop brings Premo into Morris County after two years of building a following around customer service, curated menus, community programming, and a family-run approach to cannabis retail.
For CEO Darrin Chandler Jr., the move is not just about adding another storefront. It is about seeing whether the model Premo built in Keyport can travel without losing the personal charge that made people care in the first place.
“Dover felt like the right fit because we saw an opportunity to bring something different to the market,” Chandler said. “We built Premo around culture, hospitality, education, and community, and we believed this area was ready for that experience.”
Why Dover Made Sense for Premo
Premo Dover is technically located in Victory Gardens, near Dover, but the company is thinking bigger than one address. Chandler said the goal is to serve the broader Morris County community, including Dover, Randolph, and surrounding towns.
That matters because cannabis retail can sometimes feel like it lands in a neighborhood without ever really becoming part of it. Premo is trying to take the opposite approach. The company wants the new store to function as a local business first, not a dispensary dropped into town with a flashy logo and no roots.
“Just as importantly, we want to become a true community partner by creating jobs, supporting local organizations, participating in community events, and being a business the entire region is proud to have,” Chandler said. “We didn’t come here just to open a dispensary, we came here to become part of the community.”
That community-first language is not new in cannabis. Every brand says some version of it. The difference is whether it shows up when there is not a grand opening banner outside. In Keyport, Premo has organized Thanksgiving turkey drives, clothing drives, school supply donations, and support for local organizations. Chandler said the company plans to bring that same approach to Dover while listening to what the community actually needs.
“Premo was founded by people whose lives were directly impacted by the War on Drugs, so giving back isn’t a marketing strategy, it’s part of who we are,” he said. “Our goal is to be remembered for more than cannabis.”
The Lessons From Keyport
Premo opened its flagship dispensary in Keyport in 2024, building its reputation as an independent, Black-owned, family-owned retailer led by two father-son duos: Darrin Chandler Jr. and Sr., and Skye and Donald Blanks. That family structure is not just a nice origin-story detail. It shapes how the company talks about growth, hiring, service, and the kind of energy it wants customers to feel when they walk in.
“Building Premo with family has been one of the greatest blessings of our lives,” Chandler said. “Family is at the center of everything we do, and that culture extends beyond ownership. We want every employee to feel valued, supported, and empowered to grow. That family atmosphere is something our customers feel when they walk into our stores.”
The first two years in Keyport also gave the team a working education in what customers respond to beyond price and product. Cannabis retail is crowded in New Jersey, and the novelty of legal stores is not enough anymore. For independent operators, survival depends on giving people a reason to come back.
“The biggest lesson is that great retail isn’t just about selling cannabis, it’s about creating an experience people want to come back to,” Chandler said. “Over the past two years, we’ve refined everything from customer service and menu curation to operations and community engagement. We’re bringing those lessons to Dover on day one so customers receive the best possible experience from the moment they walk through the door.”
A Store Built From More Than Cannabis
Premo’s founders bring backgrounds in music, real estate, fitness, and the legacy cannabis market, and Chandler sees all of that reflected in the company’s retail style. That mix helps explain why Premo’s brand does not read like a sterile chain trying to reverse-engineer culture from a conference room.
“Every chapter of our lives influenced Premo,” Chandler said. “Music taught us how to build culture. Real estate taught us how important location and community are. Fitness taught us discipline and consistency. The legacy cannabis market taught us to respect the plant and the people who built this industry before legalization.”
That last part is especially important in a legal market still sorting out who gets to benefit from cannabis becoming aboveboard. New Jersey’s industry has grown fast, but independent and minority-owned retailers still have to compete against larger operators with deeper pockets, bigger teams, and more corporate machinery. Chandler said Premo’s advantage is speed and proximity to the customer.
“Independent operators have one major advantage: we can move quickly,” he said. “We can listen to our customers, adapt faster, and make decisions without layers of corporate bureaucracy. We’ve built Premo from the ground up, and that connection to our customers allows us to innovate and evolve much faster than larger organizations.”
Premium Without the Velvet Rope
Premo uses words like premium, but Chandler is careful not to define that as expensive or exclusive. The company wants the shop to feel elevated without making newer customers feel like they need a cannabis glossary just to buy an eighth.
“We believe cannabis should be accessible to everyone,” Chandler said. “Whether someone is an experienced consumer or walking into a dispensary for the first time, they deserve the same level of service and respect. That’s why we’ve built a menu that offers products at every price point while never compromising the customer experience.”
That philosophy shows up in Premo Dover’s opening month programming. From July 1 through July 31, the store is offering 30% off a special menu featuring Garden Greens, Fernway, Find, and Select. During Grand Opening Weekend, July 17–19, that discount increases to 40% off the same menu, with $1 eighths of flower available to the first 750 customers each day, one per customer, per day, while supplies last.
On Saturday, July 18, Premo plans to turn the opening into more of a neighborhood introduction, with The Colonial Grill food truck on site from noon to 3 p.m., a live DJ, and vendor activations throughout the day.
The promotions will bring people in. Chandler’s goal is for the experience to make them stay.
Asked what he wants someone to feel in the first five minutes inside Premo Dover, Chandler did not reach for a retail buzzword.
“Love,” he said. “That’s the easiest way to describe it. We genuinely appreciate every customer who chooses to shop with us because without them there is no Premo. We want people to feel welcomed, comfortable, and excited to be here.”
The Next Chapter for Premo
Premo Dover is also a sign of where the company wants to go next. The store gives Premo a second market, a larger regional footprint, and another stage for in-house products and exclusive launches, which Chandler sees as an increasingly important part of the brand’s identity.
“Our in-house brands allow us to offer products that customers can only find at Premo,” he said. “They also give us greater control over quality, consistency, and value. As we continue to grow, our exclusive products will become an even bigger part of what makes Premo unique.”
For now, Dover is the immediate focus. But Chandler is not framing the expansion as a one-off.
“Dover is another milestone in a much larger vision,” he said. “From the beginning, our goal wasn’t simply to own dispensaries. We’re building a vertically integrated cannabis company with strong retail operations, proprietary brands, and long-term partnerships. Dover represents the next chapter in that journey.”
In an industry where expansion can sometimes flatten a brand, Premo is betting that growth does not have to mean losing the personal touch. The Dover opening will test that belief in real time. If Keyport was proof of concept, Morris County is the next question: can a family-run cannabis retailer grow without starting to feel like everyone else?
Premo seems ready to find out.
Photos courtesy of Premo
