The Hempest Dispensary in Northampton MA

The Hempest, locally owned since ’95

Long before Massachusetts voters legalized adult-use cannabis, The Hempest Dispensary in Northampton MA was already putting the plant in front of the public. The company opened its first doors on Huntington Avenue in Boston in 1995, selling hemp goods at a time when most people had never seen them on a store shelf. Today its Northampton shop at 2 Conz Street is a full adult-use dispensary, and it still wears the same badge on its website: “Locally Owned since ’95.”

If you live in the Pioneer Valley, or you are spending a day in downtown Northampton, here is what to know about The Hempest.

Where it all started

The Hempest says it was founded to bring hemp back into public view and to counter decades of misinformation about the plant. Its first store sold eco-friendly clothing and hemp products, and the company grew from there. Boston came first in 1995, and the Northampton store followed in October 2001.

Over the years the company spread out across New England and beyond. According to Wikipedia, The Hempest moved its Boston shop from Huntington Avenue to Newbury Street in 1997, opened in Burlington, Vermont in 2000, launched an online store in 2004, and opened a shop in Harvard Square in Cambridge in 2006. There was even a short run in Bellingham, Washington, from 2007 to 2009. Some of those stores have since closed, but Northampton stayed.

That staying power is worth a moment. Plenty of shops have come and gone in downtown Northampton over the past quarter century. The Hempest has been part of the city through all of it, first as the place people went for hemp clothing and goods, and now as the place they go for licensed cannabis.

That makes The Hempest one of the longest-running names in the Northampton cannabis conversation. For two decades it was a hemp shop. Then, when the state opened the door to licensed adult-use sales, the company turned its Northampton location into a dispensary. The way The Hempest tells it, cannabis retail is not a new direction. It is the next chapter of the same mission.

A dispensary since 2021

The Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission lists 2 Conz Street as an active, licensed adult-use cannabis retailer, open since February 12, 2021. That same day, The Hempest announced in a press release that the Northampton location would hold its grand opening within the next week or two, and that the shop would focus on locally grown and sourced cannabis, with a heavy focus on Western Massachusetts.

A two-story rebuild on Conz Street

Getting ready for that opening took real work. In January 2021, McSweeney Construction and Development Corp. announced that it had finished renovating The Hempest at 2 Conz Street. According to High-Profile, the project turned a 750-square-foot retail space into a two-story, 2,600-square-foot dispensary and retail store inside the same building. Both floors were taken down to the studs and rebuilt.

The finishes say a lot about the shop’s roots. Solid maple doors replaced commercial metal frames, antique accents were made from reclaimed wood, the floors have a wood-grain finish and the walls are painted in earth tones, including a Benjamin Moore color called, fittingly, Hemp Seed. Owner Jon Napoli summed up the goal in one line to High-Profile: “It feels like a place you want to spend time looking around, shopping, or just hanging out.”

Local, Earth-conscious and independent

The Hempest’s culture page is clear about what it values. The shop says it focuses on local, Earth-conscious products from independent growers rather than large corporations, and that it wants to see locally and freely grown cannabis produced and sold across New England. It also describes a goal it has held since 1995: supporting a cleaner, greener future through local farming partnerships.

That fits Northampton well. The city is surrounded by farmland and protected open space, and many Pioneer Valley shoppers like to know where their products come from. If that matters to you, ask a budtender which items on the menu were grown closest to home.

Trendsetters, in their own words

The Hempest does not undersell itself. Its website calls the team “true trendsetters and pioneers in the industry,” and says the goal is “transforming the cannabis scene (and experience) in Northampton.” Its tagline keeps it simpler: “Your One-Stop Cannabis Shop.”

Reviews quoted on the shop’s website praise the staff as knowledgeable and helpful, and at least one shopper calls it their go-to spot. Our advice is the same at every dispensary we write about: tell the budtender what you like, or what you are new to, and let them point you in the right direction.

The loyalty program

The Hempest runs a loyalty program it describes as “the exclusive hook up.” Members earn points every time they shop and can put those points toward discounts on future visits. Members also get updates on current deals and entries into the shop’s lotteries for a chance to win goods. Ask at the counter how to sign up on your first visit so it counts.

Shop online first

The Hempest has an online shop at hempestdispensary.com/shop, so you can see what is on the menu before you head over. Menus change often at every dispensary, so checking before you go saves time, and it gives you a short list to talk through with a budtender once you arrive.

Easy parking downtown

One of the best things about The Hempest’s spot is the parking. The shop sits in the Northampton Municipal Lot, with parking near the front door. That is a real perk in a downtown where street spaces fill up fast on weekends and show nights.

Plan your visit

Address. 2 Conz Street, Northampton, MA 01060.

Hours. Sunday through Thursday, 10am to 8pm. Friday and Saturday, 9am to 9pm.

Phone. (413) 341-3321.

Parking. In the Northampton Municipal Lot, close to the front door.

Adults 21+. The Hempest is an adult-use dispensary, so no medical card is needed. Bring a valid, government-issued photo ID showing you are 21 or older.

Follow along. The shop posts updates on Instagram at @thehempest.

Hours can change around holidays, so check the website or call ahead if you are cutting it close.

Massachusetts cannabis basics

Here are the state rules from the Cannabis Control Commission:

Age. 21 or older, with a government-issued ID for every retail purchase.
Carrying. Up to two ounces in public.
At home. Up to 10 ounces, and anything over two ounces must be locked up.
Where to use it. Not in public places and not on federal land.
In the car. No open containers in the passenger area. Use a closed container in the trunk or a locked glove compartment, and never drive under the influence.
State lines. It is illegal to take cannabis out of Massachusetts, and it cannot be mailed.

Your first visit, step by step

Look at the menu. Browse the online shop so you know what is in stock.
Bring your ID. A valid, government-issued photo ID showing you are 21 or older.
Park in the municipal lot. The shop is right there.
Talk to a budtender. Share what you like, or what you are curious about.
Join the loyalty program. Start earning points on your very first visit.

Make a day of it in Northampton

Northampton is the county seat of Hampshire County, in the Pioneer Valley of western Massachusetts. It had 29,571 residents at the 2020 census, counting the villages of Florence and Leeds. The town was chartered in 1653 and became a city in 1883. Locals call it the Meadow City, and also Paradise City, a name that goes back to 1851, when the Swedish singer Jenny Lind called it the “Paradise of America.”

There is plenty to do within a short walk of downtown. The Academy of Music, built in 1890, is described as the earliest known municipally owned theater in the country, and it still hosts concerts, films and shows. The Iron Horse Music Hall is another favorite for live music. Forbes Library, built in 1894, holds the Calvin Coolidge Presidential Library and Museum, a nod to the 30th president, who practiced law in Northampton and served as its mayor from 1910 to 1911.

Smith College, founded in 1871, sits on the edge of downtown, and its Botanic Garden and greenhouses are open to visitors. If you would rather be outside, the Norwottuck Rail Trail runs about 18 miles and the Manhan Rail Trail about 8 miles. Look Park covers more than 150 acres, and walkers and cyclists get in free. The Connecticut River runs through the city, and the Oxbow is a popular spot for boating.

Getting here is easy. Interstate 91 runs just east of downtown, and U.S. Route 5 and Routes 9 and 10 all meet in the center of the city. Amtrak’s Vermonter and Valley Flyer stop in Northampton, and Pioneer Valley Transit Authority and Peter Pan buses serve the city too.

Why The Hempest is worth the stop

Thirty years on, The Hempest is still about the same thing it started with: putting the plant in plain view and doing it with a local, independent spirit. It has a rebuilt two-story shop with reclaimed wood and earth tones, a focus on growers close to home, a loyalty program that pays you back, and parking right outside the door. For a dispensary with real roots in Paradise City, start on Conz Street.

Cannabis is for adults 21 and over. Please consume responsibly.