Raul Molina didn’t initially enter the cannabis industry for the plant itself; his background was in retail. That difference, it turns out, has made all the difference. According to the co-founder and COO of Mint Cannabis, what makes a great dispensary comes down to the person behind the counter. For Molina, this means a customer-first approach that has helped Mint become the MSO leader it is today. This philosophy has shaped each step of Mint’s growth.
Mint opened its first location in March 2017 in Guadalupe, a one-square-mile town tucked inside Phoenix. Today, the company operates 38 dispensaries across Arizona, Florida, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri and Nevada, with licenses in nine states and 72 more locations in development. By the close of 2027, Molina expects that footprint to reach around 150 stores expanding into additional markets, including Delaware and Minnesota, where Mint has already secured licenses.
That kind of scale is rare in cannabis. What’s more rare is doing it without outside investment. “We haven’t taken on any partners. We haven’t borrowed any money,” he says. “All the growth that Mint has experienced has been growth through the revenue streams coming out of Arizona.” Every new market, every new store, is funded by the last one.
flag football. NFL legend Ricky Williams joins Mint Dispensary’s Raul Molina at its flagship location in Tempe, AZ; ( opposite ) Mint Dispensary was the first licensed cannabis kitchen in the nation
What makes that growth possible is more than a smart licensing strategy. It’s about keeping the company’s culture intact as it crosses state lines. And it’s a topic Molina thinks about constantly.
“I want customers to walk into any of our stores and have the same feeling,” he says. “I want them to feel welcome.” The uniforms, the display cases and the layout travel with the brand. “That’s one of the reasons we’ve been able to keep the same vibe.”
At the Tempe flagship in Guadalupe, AZ, that vibe goes further than anywhere else in the country. The 12,000-square-foot store is the largest in The Grand Canyon State and ranks among the largest in the US. One of its most popular features is a floor-to-ceiling grow window where customers can watch plants move from clone to harvest. Mint operates what it says is the only licensed cannabis kitchen in the country, where customers can order pizza, wings, burgers and tacos infused with actual THC. Since it opened, the kitchen has generated more than $80 million in earned media, with news crews arriving from South Korea, Singapore and dozens of American markets to cover the dispensary’s unique offering.
But the personalized approach is where Molina’s retail instincts and customer-first ethos are evident. Mint keeps notes on every transaction to ensure customers get the very best experience.
“If you come in bec
