Hibernica in the Bronx opened a new store in Harlem, its Central Park North location.
Photo courtesy of Hibernica
A Bronx-based cannabis dispensary is broadening its reach with a new location in Harlem.
This past summer, Hibernica opened its new Central Park North store, located at 111 W. 110th St. The first store, located at 3220 Westchester Ave. in Pelham Bay, opened on April 20, 2024, with the goal of bringing sustainable, locally sourced products to the market while weaving hospitality into the customer experience.
Like the Pelham Bay store, the Central Park North Hibernica offers a robust lineup of cannabis products, including flower, pre-rolls, vaporizers, edibles and more.
“Everything started with me and my brother. We pioneered the [Pelham Bay] location up there for the last 2.5 years. We have a lot of the community around us,” said Jonathan Guerrero, general manager of Hibernica. “It was a family-owned business and I was thrust into it with open arms. My roots are in hospitality; I’ve consumed [cannabis] my whole life, and taking that and combining it with the restaurant hospitality and being able to create an actual business from it, that was just my dream to be able to align my passion with my career.”
Guerrero told amNewYork that bringing the next Hibernica location to Harlem was a no-brainer. He grew up in the area just a few blocks from the new store location, so when it came to expanding, they jumped on the opportunity.
Guerrero also said that Harlem and cannabis have seen a lot of growth in a positive direction, giving the location of the new Hibernica store more meaning.
“Harlem and cannabis have had an interesting past being as how the legislation in the past has been a little bit more strict for areas like this, so to be able to see it change completely is like a breath of fresh air,” said Guerrero. “I remember being young and being around friends who consumed, and then it was a little bit taboo; it just wasn’t allowed. So now just to be able to make a career out of it and to be able to educate people and get people out of that stigma is incredibly wonderful and gratifying.”
For the new Central Park North store, Guerrero said that keeping their hospitality-driven experience going like they have in the Pelham Bay store. From the moment they walk through the door, customers are made to feel welcome from the staff.
“We pretty much always make everybody feel welcome. We always look in the eye, we smile at them and greet them very warmly,” said Guerrero. “Everybody here does a wonderful job of having a very enthusiastic energy and so everybody here that comes in, we make sure that we figure out what exactly why are they here. Everybody here does their best to create interpersonal relationships with the community just to help create that bond of trust.”
Hibernica held its grand opening celebration back in August, offering daily brand pop-ups, giveaways, and cannabis education. The store kicked off its first Central Park Clean-Up on Aug. 29, the first of many events that Hibernica will host for the community. Guerrero says that Hibernica plans on collaborating with other local businesses in the area to further build community with their neighbors and customers.
“Harlem is very community-driven, very tight-knit. So we are gonna definitely do much more collabs with the businesses in the area and see how we can impact our community,” said Guerrero. “In Pelham Bay, we’ve donated more than 300 meals last Thanksgiving for the Open Hand Association. We wanna continue to do things like that here so that we’re not just a retail shop; we wanna actually make an impact and being from this area, seeing it grow is a dream come true.”
For more information, visit shophibernica.com.
