Budtenders are the face of the cannabis industry. As an intermediary between producers and consumers, they see the industry from both sides and have to know not only about the product, but about the people they're selling to.
Recently, the Inlander spoke with Nicole Walker, a budtender at the Green Nugget in north Spokane, to get her perspective on the industry from behind the sales counter. Walker has six years of experience in the cannabis industry, including the past four at the Green Nugget. She was voted Best Budtender in the Inlander's 2024 Best Of the Inland Northwest Readers Poll. Her answers have been edited for length and clarity.
INLANDER: What are the most common questions you hear from customers when they come into the store, whether they are regulars or first-timers or anything in between?
WALKER: I would say usually people are looking for deals, which obviously no one wants to pay full price. So usually I would say the most common question is just, "What do you have on sale?" If they give me a budget — and that's what I actually really like is if you give me a price to work with — I've got you, and I'll find the best of whatever we have for that price. But with how times are right now, everyone is looking for a deal, so it makes sense.
So knowing how much you're willing to spend is a good place for a customer to start?
I would say so, yeah, because if I know their budget, then I can kind of work from there. It has happened sometimes where they don't know and I start showing them stuff and they're like, "Oh no, that's too expensive for me right now," and I get that.
Beyond just price, is there any kind of product people tend to have many questions about?
Usually people, what they know least about would probably be the RSOs [concentrated oil extracts] and the rubs and creams and stuff like that. So that's actually something that happens. A lot of the older generation, it's still kind of taboo for them. And so they come in and they're in pain, and a lot of people are in pain, and they just need help and they don't know where to go.
Over your six years working in the cannabis industry, what are some of the most significant changes you've seen?
I think the quality has gotten a lot better in general, and I talk about it a lot that even the budget friendly stuff is still good. I feel like at one point, especially early on, you definitely did pay for what you got. If it was cheap, you knew it was cheap.
Even packaging, I would say. Companies are getting pretty good with their packaging having more information, which is nice because customers look for that. Before it was very minimal with THC and that was kind of it, but now they'll put the crosses of the strain and the terpene profile. ♦
