The owners of Milligrams are bringing their experience and knowledge to “your new favorite cannabis dispensary.”
Meet David Pejovic, Owen Martinetti, and Chris Abbenda.
They met and became friends at Baruch College in New York City and after graduation they all kind of went their separate ways in terms of career choices.
Abbenda became a commercial real estate broker in New York City with Colliers. Martinetti opened the first extraction and cultivation CBD facility in upstate New York and Pejovic went to Villanova Law School and became a lawyer.
The friends have come full circle and now are business partners with their newest venture, Milligrams.
“We opened on Oct. 30,” Pejovic said, and after an “incredible” soft opening, they are “committed to learning from our customers and the community so we can keep delivering the best experience and product selection possible.”
Martinetti and Abbenda came together and opened their first dispensary, Potency, in Massachusetts in April 2022. Prior, Abbenda had joined Martinetti at the CBD facility in upstate New York on the sales side.
In the meantime, Martinetti and Abbenda started a brand called Snoozy, a sleep supplement brand that uses hemp, adaptogens and other natural ingredients that are plant derived to help people get a better night’s sleep.
“It’s been our primary focus besides for our store in Massachusetts,” Martinetti said.
The friends have been looking to open additional locations in the tri-state region. Specifically, New Jersey since 2022.
“We had a license,” Martinetti explained. “We were trying to open a store in Somerset and we just didn’t have the money at the time.
“It’s a very cost-intensive business because you have to typically rent something for 18 months without any revenue.”
And being on the younger side in terms of business ownership – the trio are all 30 years old and younger – they had to wait and build up their resources.
In October 2024, the wait was over. Pejovic joined his friends on the venture into New Jersey.
“We came across a group that had a location, but they didn’t have the money and we were just in a different situation and realized, ‘Hey this is a really good town to be in,’” Martinetti remembered of the Mount Laurel location. “It’s just outside of Philadelphia and David knew the area because he went to Villanova Law.”
Now a year later, Milligrams is open at 813 East Gate Drive, Suite D.
“There are aspects that are similar to our Potency store,” Martinetti said of the design, adding “it doesn’t look like a normal dispensary.”
Iconic display cases and a giant real living wall greet customers.
“Right now, we have just under 300 products at the store that people can choose from,” Martinetti said.
“Over the next three to six months, we’ll probably have closer to 600 to 800 products.”
The trio is getting to know the community and assessing what South Jersey customers want.
As for the name, it’s straightforward.
“Every product’s ‘potency’ is very clearly listed by the milligram,” Pejovic said.
They are starting with 20 to 30 brands from different local cultivators and manufacturers.
“Everything has to be made within the state of New Jersey,” Martinetti said. “One of the brands that we brought on is called Green Lightening in Delran. They are 20 minutes away from the store and have been a really great partner.
“At the end of the day, it is our job to listen to our customers and find out what they want and deliver on that,” Martinetti added. “It’s really simple. It’s what we follow at Potency. It’s the same exact thing here.”
At Milligrams, three key things are essential:
- A good customer experience from the moment someone walks in, which includes the environment and design of the store.
- A staff that is well-versed on the products and can help navigate and educate first-time consumers as well as cannabis connoisseurs.
- The products – with so many different products within each category, the trio does their best to curate their selections with products that have the best “ingredients, flavors and overall effects.”
And that is what customers will find at their “new favorite cannabis dispensary.”
Pejovic, Martinetti, and Abbenda are first friends, then business partners. You can find them laughing more than not.
Humor is important. And that is the environment they carry over with their staff, who are all locally based.
“We like to make them feel comfortable talking to us,” Pejovic said. “We believe a collaborative; friendly environment will get way more done in every aspect than a tense and uncomfortable one.”
A funny meme reel about Milligrams has gone viral to help with the promotion. Who better to deliver than Ben Stiller’s character White Goodman from “Dodgeball.”
Point of View: Me Telling My Husband I Don’t Like Going to Milligrams Just for the Vibes
Him: “C’mon, I know you, you know you. And I know you know that I know you.”
Another viral meme features a mouse. Keep a look out for future funny memes.
The excitement is only building as Milligrams hits the ground running and the trio continues to grow their locations in the tri-state region.
Find Milligrams – your new favorite cannabis dispensary:
Address: 813 East Gate Drive, Suite D, Mount Laurel, NJ
Website: milligrams.co/
Instagram: @shopmilligrams
Facebook: facebook.com/milligramsmoutlaurel
