A Puff of Tokyo Smoke on Queen Street West

There is no shortage of weed shops in pot-loving Toronto. But the local brand that has been most effective in turning pot premium is Tokyo Smoke, now with five locations in the city, an outpost in Vancouver, and a forthcoming Seattle boutique. Created by ex-Google sales rep Alan Gertner, the weed / coffee brand has a hipster audience in mind. Besides brick-and-mortar stores, he and his team have launched such auxiliary projects as collaborating with architecture firm Partisans on sculptural pipes and building showrooms inside shipping containers.

The company’s most striking interior can be found at 668 Queen Street West. Developed in partnership with DesignAgency – the local firm behind the Broadview Hotel’s swanky renovation – Tokyo Smoke is intended to feel “like a haven in a fast-moving city,” according to DesignAgency principal Anwar Mekhayech.

And it does. A purveyor of coffee and marijuana accessories, the eclectic interior is anchored by a coffee bar made from concrete tiles, each bearing Tokyo Smoke’s pill-shaped logo. The rest of the interior is defined by smoked glass mirrors and hot-rolled black steel shelving for displaying paraphernalia for smoking and brewing. Yellow industrial lamps and vinyl flooring, materials more commonly found in laboratories than dispensaries, has the DesignAgency stamp, of crafting a stylish yet comfortable interior.