Date: October 2018 – January 2019
A few months into setting up the business we officially had a name, Zootly.
The name came about from Chris’s hometown Knysna. In the sleepy Garden Route town a Zoot was a joint.
We booked some international flights to the hub of the marijuana business, the Netherlands and Spain. On our trip we visited a few Amsterdam coffee shops. meeting with industry leaders. What we saw was that these stores were overrun by British nationals, with a heavy haze of smoke in the air, it should go without saying the lighting was bad and the surfaces were grimy.
This was completely different to the Spanish establishments we visited, they were clean, slick, and really selling a premium lifestyle (think Camps Bay). This inspired us to ensure that our brand was more classy than the average cannabis outlet. This also helped secure the name Zootly, as “zootly” is something smart and classy.
Other things we pick up while in Amsterdam and Spain is that they appreciate cycling, live in a well organised CBD, and that the women are gorgeous.