THE LAST YEAR OF INTOXICATING HEMP: YOUR FINAL 12-MONTH SURVIVAL BLUEPRINT

12-Month PlanChad Wade
THE LAST YEAR OF INTOXICATING HEMP: YOUR FINAL 12-MONTH SURVIVAL BLUEPRINT
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The truth is simple:
The smoke shop industry is about to change faster in the next 12 months than it has in the last 12 years.
Not because the customers change.
Not because the culture changes.
Not because the economy changes.
But because the law is changing.
And when intoxicating hemp is gone, the stores that survive will be the stores that planned EARLY — not the stores that waited until the shelves went empty.
You are now inside the final 12 months of the era that built thousands of shops.
This blog gives you the complete 12-month survival blueprint that ties EVERYTHING together:
  • your layout
  • your product strategy
  • your training
  • your sales system
  • your merchandising
  • your customer retention
  • your mindset
  • your transition plan
  • your UNSWholesale supply chain
  • your coaching support
This is the COMPLETE model.
The FINAL guide.
The MASTER plan.
If you follow this blueprint, your smoke shop won’t just survive —
it will come out stronger than ever.
Let’s build your next 12 months.
1. Month 1–2: Stabilization & Awareness Phase (TODAY)
This phase is about clarity, communication, and preparation.
Most shop owners are still pretending the hemp ban “might not happen.”
By the time they accept it, it’ll be too late.
Here’s what YOU must do NOW:
✔ Step 1 — Tell your customers
Use this script:
“Just a heads up — laws are changing soon, but we’re already transitioning into new legal categories that customers are loving. We’ve got you covered.”
This creates confidence, not panic.
✔ Step 2 — Rebuild your messaging
Update ALL your messaging to reflect:
  • wellness
  • botanicals
  • mushrooms
  • glass
  • accessories
  • lifestyle
Take “hemp store” out of your identity.
✔ Step 3 — Create new category anchors
Your new categories MUST be:
✔ Kratom
(search inside UNS shop)
These are your survival pillars.
✔ Step 4 — Schedule your layout rebuild
This is NOW the time to redesign your store.
If your layout stays hemp-centric, customers will FEEL the collapse before it happens.
2. Months 3–4: Layout & Merchandising Transformation
This phase is where you visually transition into the new era.
✔ Move hemp OUT of prime space
Replace hemp with:
  • botanicals
  • mushrooms
  • kratom
  • glass displays
  • lifestyle racks
✔ Build the 5 mandatory merchandising zones
(From Blog #8)
  1. Attention Zone
  2. Education Zone
  3. Experience Zone
  4. Premium Zone
  5. Impulse Zone
Your store must LOOK alive, not empty.
✔ Add new signage
Use signs like:
  • “New Legal Alternatives”
  • “Botanical Calm Solutions”
  • “Focus & Energy Mushroom Blends”
  • “Premium Glass Drops Weekly”
✔ Add lighting
If it’s dark, it’s dead.
✔ Add shelves as needed
UNS products will fill them quickly.
✔ Build the “New Alternatives” display
This becomes your customer magnet.
Momentum starts HERE.
3. Months 5–6: Sales System Overhaul
This is where your staff gets rebuilt.
✔ Train employees on new categories
Use UNS SKUs in training:
✔ Teach the 7 mandatory scripts
(From Blog #9)
Your team MUST know:
  • the transition script
  • the experience question
  • the add-on script
  • the mushroom pivot
  • the botanical pitch
  • the kratom guidance
  • the return setup
✔ Drill the 3-tier sales system
Main product → companion product → impulse product.
✔ Daily roleplay
5 minutes per shift.
✔ Weekly goals
Track:
  • add-ons
  • ticket size
  • category penetration
  • new category sales
This is the phase that turns staff into sellers, not cashiers.
4. Months 7–8: Revenue Replacement Phase
This is where you stop SURVIVING and start GROWING.
By now, your hemp sales should be shrinking —
but your NEW categories should be exploding.
✔ Push botanicals
High margin, consistent, legal.
✔ Push functional mushrooms
Customers LOVE exploring these.
✔ Push glass
The higher the price, the higher the margin.
✔ Push kratom
Weekly return customers.
https://unswholesale.com/shop (search “kratom”)
✔ Push accessories HARD
Your new cash-flow engine.
✔ Build bundles
Examples:
  • Relax Bundle: lotus + incense + tray
  • Focus Bundle: mushroom gummies + lighter
  • Starter Bundle: bowl + grinder + torch
✔ Introduce subscription-style habits
Encourage customers to come back weekly for botanicals and kratom.
This is where your survival engine becomes a growth engine.
5. Months 9–10: Customer Retention & Loyalty Phase
This is where your store becomes a “destination” again.
✔ Build a loyalty loop
Staff must ask:
“How did that last product work for you?”
This keeps customers anchored.
✔ Educate customers weekly
Use in-store signs:
  • “New Lotus arrival!”
  • “New mushroom blends!”
  • “New glass drop this week!”
✔ Host micro-events
Examples:
  • “Glass Drop Friday”
  • “Botanical Education Day”
  • “Mushroom Mondays”
✔ Create an exploration zone refresh every 30 days
Always put new UNS SKUs here.
✔ Build emotional loyalty
Your store must FEEL:
  • confident
  • consistent
  • stable
  • knowledgeable
  • prepared
Customers stay with leaders —
not with stores that look lost.
6. Months 11–12: Expansion & Reinforcement Phase
This is where you push toward long-term dominance.
✔ Add more premium glass
(Your highest-margin category.)
✔ Expand botanical offerings
UNS adds new SKUs constantly.
✔ Strengthen mushroom category
This will be bigger than hemp in a few years.
✔ Expand accessories
Replace any weak SKUs.
✔ Review staff
Keep your best.
Cut your weakest.
Rebuild your culture.
✔ Review layout
Update for speed and clarity.
✔ Review sales scripts
Strengthen what works.
✔ Review retention
Make sure customers aren’t drifting.
✔ Review cash flow
Your goal is to replace ALL hemp revenue before the final ban date.
This final phase is the difference between staying in business…
and becoming a leader in your market.
7. The UNSWholesale.com Advantage (Your Supply Engine)
UNS powers your entire rebuild:
✔ Blue Lotus (Legal Calm)
✔ Functional Mushrooms (Focus, Energy, Balance)
✔ Glass (Premium Margins)
✔ Accessories (Daily Cash Flow)
✔ Kratom (Weekly Consumers)
Search inside UNS shop
Fast shipping.
Deep inventory.
Future-proof categories.
UNS gives you consistency during chaos.
8. The ChadWadeTV Coaching Advantage (Your Strategy Engine)
I help owners:
✔ rebuild stores
✔ restructure layouts
✔ create sales systems
✔ train staff
✔ build merchandising
✔ create product strategy
✔ redesign identity
✔ plan transitions
✔ stabilize operations
✔ build confidence
Most store owners have NEVER faced a regulatory collapse.
They don’t know what to do.
But I do.
And if you want your store to stay alive —
you need someone in your corner who knows what’s coming.
✔ Book your consulting session
ChadWadeTV → Contact
URL: https://chadwadetv.com/pages/contact
Clean Link:
Talk to Chad
This next year will be HARD —
but it will also create the strongest shop owners the industry has ever seen.
**9. Final Word:
This Is Your Year. Your Pivot. Your Test. Your Opportunity. This is the last year intoxicating hemp will exist. But it’s the first year YOU can build something bigger, better, and stronger.
Here’s what you must remember:
✔ Customers don’t follow hemp — they follow stability.
✔ Stores don’t die from bans — they die from inaction.
✔ Sales aren’t lost — they’re shifted.
✔ Revenue isn’t gone — it’s replaced.
✔ Weak shops fall — strong shops rise.
✔ Fear collapses stores — leadership saves them.
YOU are the difference between survival and collapse. YOU decide what your store becomes. YOU decide how you pivot. YOU decide your future. And you don’t have to do it alone. Let’s rebuild your smoke shop into a store that survives ANYTHING. Let’s win the next 12 months — and dominate the next 12 years.
I’ve got you.

This is your last year of intoxicating hemp — make it count.
👉 Build your new product mix at UNSWholesale.com
👉 Build your strategy with ChadWadeTV.com/Contact
You’re not losing an industry — you’re gaining an advantage.
Move first. Move smart. Survive everything.
Tags: 12-month plan, Botanical transition, Chad wade tv, Hemp ban, Retail strategy, Smoke shop survival, Uns wholesale

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