What reaches a dispensary shelf is never accidental. At Chrome Flwrs, decades of experience inform every product, price point and recommendation.
In cannabis retail, the buyer stands between an endless stream of products and the finite reality of a dispensary shelf. The title sounds simple—find merchandise, negotiate prices, place orders—but those decisions shape everything a customer sees, trusts and returns to buy.
Will Moore, buyer at Chrome Flwrs in Greenpoint, explains that, “the buyer is more of an inventory coordinator.” The job reaches beyond purchasing into promotions, marketing campaigns, timing orders and protecting the consistency of the store’s menu.
That makes the buyer one of a dispensary’s most consequential—and least understood—operators. It also makes Moore a magnet at conventions, where every brand wants a meeting and a sample. While sales reps try to make an impression, Moore is calculating quality, price, customer fit, supply and whether the company can support the relationship.
“We like to look for the best quality. We want to look for continued consistent access to that product,” he says. A great sample means little if the company cannot keep it available. Chrome Flwrs’ budtenders recommend products. “We are conditioning our customers,” Moore says. When those customers return, the store needs to honor the trust it helped create.
“I feel like it's bad customer service to not have a product that people want.”
Moore thinks about the job from the customer backward. He is not choosing only what he personally likes; he is building a menu for many kinds of people at once.
He studies who walks through Chrome Flwrs’ doors. Greenpoint’s Polish and Italian communities now share the neighborhood with younger transplants. Pre-rolls lead by unit, while flower produces larger purchases. After learning Chrome Flwrs was serving about 45 percent women—compared with roughly 30 percent at previous dispensaries—Moore brought “more softness and more femininity” into the mix. Miss Grass was one addition and, he says, “they've done phenomenal at the shop.”
His thinking is organized by range rather than hype. “Everything I do is in tiers. Good, better, best, beginner, intermediate, expert, everything.” That framework allows Chrome Flwrs to serve value shoppers, experienced smokers and customers ready to splurge. A product does not need to be the most expensive or potent to deserve shelf space. It needs to know what it is, who it is for and whether it delivers honestly.
That judgment comes from more than two decades in cannabis. Moore began buying and selling in college in 2002, before licensed New York dispensaries existed. He later worked through legacy operations, managed inventory and became a budtender at Torches. There, he learned under buyer Gilly, whom Moore calls “a mover,a shaker and a dot connector.” He watched how Gilly carried relationships, stayed current and handled business directly.
Moore brought those lessons to Chrome Flwrs, but he does not decide alone. He samples and documents products, then brings in budtenders whose expertise may exceed his. One may have a refined flower palate; another may understand extraction methods, vape hardware and oil quality. “I don't just consider my taste. I consider everybody's taste.”
That collective intelligence shapes how Moore reads a convention floor. He wants innovation, quality and a strong feeling from the people behind the booth. “It's really a vibe thing.” But the vibe has to be backed by punch.
His best-foot-forward advice is practical: show up professionally, know the product’s real tier, understand its customer and do not oversell. “I would say show up as your authentic self, pleasant, professional and have that fire.” Persistence matters too. “Don't take a no as a failure, right?”
Plenty of brands arrive in chrome. Moore’s job is knowing which ones really shine.
Find will and Chrome Flwrs in our current print edition found in 600 dispensaries around New York and online here.
For more visit https://chromeflwrs.com and Instagram
