Rebelle is more than just the first dispensary to open in Boston’s South End. The female-owned cannabis company is also a wellness center for the canna-curious.
“I think a lot about our customer and what they like and what they’re into, because we’ve been selling to people for a long time and there’s a certain lifestyle, I would say, for the different customer profiles that we have,” owner Charlotte Hanna told MassLive Wednesday.
Whether you’re into the outdoors, exercise, gardening, the arts, entertaining or cooking, Rebelle wants to help enhance people’s lives through its selection of cannabis products that focus on overall wellness.
Hanna already operates one of the most successful dispensaries in Great Barrington, which opened at 783 S. Main St. in 2020. While being a cannabis connoisseur had a stigma — especially at that time — that concept actually inspired the name for Hanna’s company.
“It felt like at the time there was like a lot of angst in the world and people were needing to rebel and it was manifesting in so many different ways,” she said. “The way that we spell it is the French word for ‘rebel.’ And so I thought, well, that’s kind of an elevated version of a rebel and that’s kind of what I consider myself.”
A native of Lexington, Kentucky, Hanna started her career in social justice, working with people who were dealing with domestic violence, homelessness, poverty, hunger and incarceration.
While living in California during the 1990s, Hanna helped women living in shelters make money from working on micro organic farms in the Tenderloin and Hayes Valley in San Francisco.
She later left that field and worked at Goldman Sachs on Wall Street in New York City for 12 years. Once Hanna had children, she joined the family business of real estate to better support her two sons. Hanna took on an entirely new career path when she entered the cannabis industry in 2019.
“When I decided to get into the cannabis industry, I’m like, ‘How can I make sense of this crazy career that I’ve had that doesn’t make a lot of sense,’” Hanna said. “And I thought, ‘Well, I want to get into the cannabis industry. I’m going to start this company and try to change people’s hearts and minds about the plant.’”
Rebelle, the first dispensary to open in Boston’s South End, looks at cannabis from a wellness perspective by selling products that include other herbal ingredients and hosting wellness events with other local businesses.David Cifarelli
As a mother and woman who smokes marijuana, Hanna defied the common misconception of cannabis users.
She channelled that trailblazing energy into her business that stands out from other cannabis companies by looking at cannabis from a wellness perspective and selling products made with other herbal ingredients.
Products include edibles made with THC (a certain strain of cannabis) a minor cannabinoid (a class of biological compounds that bind to cannabinoid receptors) and other adaptogens (plants and mushrooms that help your body respond to stress, anxiety, fatigue and overall wellbeing).
Rebelle also sells a micro-dose spray that is similar to a breath mint and vapes that are made with THC that has been cold pressed, creating a cleaner and fresher-tasting plant flavor, according to Hanna.
Not only has the businesswoman seen her products change people’s minds about cannabis, but Hanna has also seen the cannabis industry change drastically over her short time in the business.
“Now that the stores are opening around the state and around the city and people are saying, ‘oh, wait a minute. It isn’t so bad and it didn’t change anything at all. It’s just another business,’” Hanna said.
As a dispensary owner, Hanna had to go through a lot of community outreach to open a store. While doing this in Great Barrington, Hanna experienced a ton of backlash from the community.
“People were just mad that we were coming to town,” Hanna said.
Fast forward to last year and Hanna’s process of getting the Boston shop up and running “was just a night-and-day difference.”
“When something’s new and different, it’s scary and people want to resist it and think that it’s bad,” she continued. “But then, just with time, time always is one of the greatest impacts on changing people’s minds.”
Hanna closed on the space in December 2022 and got approval to sell in October 2023. Rebelle officially opened its doors for business at the beginning of April.
After the business hosts its grand opening on Saturday, Rebelle will host wellness programs with other like-minded brands in the community.
Events will include yoga with discussions on how CBD can help reduce inflammation and muscle recovery or curated art walks with “a little bit of cannabis,” Hanna said. Rebelle might also host wine and dinner parties with cannabis pairings.
“That’s going to be a big part of the way that we engage with the community and with our customers is through these kinds of interesting events that bring community together,” Hanna said.
Hanna would love to open a third store, but it might be a couple more years before that happens. For now, customers can visit Rebelle at 591 Albany St. in Boston to shop. The store is open Monday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. More information about the Boston store can be found online.
