It's been less than two years since the founding of Mineral, an Austin-based CBD cannabis oil company marrying equal parts wellness, lifestyle, and trend. In that time, however, its popularity has soared, thanks in part to co-founder/brand ambassador/man-about-town, Matthew "Mills" Miller.
When we last met up with Miller in July 2018, the company had just launched ROBYN, the brand's signature ingestible CBD oil, and was preparing to offer MAISON, a CBD-infused salve marketed for recovery. Now, the online company is rolling onward with a "cannabis community center" on East Sixth Street, which softly opened on March 14.
As the CBD trend continues its skyward trajectory, showing no signs of slowing down, Miller and team realized it was time to establish a brick-and-mortar. After looking at retail spaces around the city, the company eventually found the spot that would be the first Mineral Concept Store at 1105 E. Sixth St., the same strip as Practice Yoga and Birds Barbershop. The vision, Miller says, is to have a space that serves as both shop and community center for Austinites eager to learn more about cannabis and cannabinoid products.
"We designed the Concept Store as a cannabis community center — a space for Mineral to exist in front of our customers and speak to the uniqueness of our formulations," Miller tells CultureMap. "We are much more than a CBD company, and we invested in a tangible opportunity to differentiate our brand and our products." But Mineral's new shop is more than just a marketing gimmick, instead reflecting the growing cultural shift back towards plant-based wellness.
Plant-based wellness is something for which Miller strongly advocates for and reflects in his own lifestyle. After a terrifying health scare involving a bowl of rancid alpaca stew, Miller eschewed traditional Western medicine, choosing instead to fight his illness with anti-inflammatory foods, a vegan diet, and, of course, CBD oil. It's this experience that Miller credits with inspiring Mineral, which he eventually launched in 2017 with co-founder Harris Fazlani.
In keeping with the brand's stylized look, the space is thoroughly modern, utilizing elements like cement, steel, and glass. And in keeping with the brand's language, Miller prefers to call the Concept Store "a cannabis perfumery" rather than a CBD shop.
"I consider it a cannabis perfumery because of our formulating cannabinoids with terpenes for targeted benefits," Miller says, referring to chemicals secreted by cannabis plants, which give them a unique smell. "The formula descriptions have evolved to include perfume-like descriptors."
As for the community center aspect, Miller envisions not just cannabis education programming, but hosting a variety of events on plant-based wellness. "The Concept Store's focus will be on ... bringing people together to educate on how we can accomplish an improved well-being through plants," he says.
And for customers looking to actually purchase Mineral's products, those are available, too.
The interiors were designed to showcase CBD products.
A dramatic feathered piece in the Flamer collection.Photo by Ima Shoots
A ghostly vision in the Flamer collection.Photo by Ima Shoots
Draped chains create the illusion of fabric in the Placebo collection.Photo by Willie Wang
Shepard says she considers individual clients' styles when creating designs.Photo by Ima Shoots
The work in the Dashe collection is meant to lastPhoto by Willie Wang