Gazing at the mirrored displays walking into the main gallery at the Looking Glass Smoke Shop and Gallery you’ll see traditional consumption tools like bongs and pipes of all sizes. You’ll also discover some of this gorgeous artwork could also pass for cultural mementos.
Outside Salt Lake City, such smoke shops are few and far between in the Beehive State. Some would argue this makes sale and purchase of such glassware a matter of some discretion. Others might say the surtaxes imposed on Tobacco and Vape products make such a business a difficult proposition. This could also be why they’re so scarce.
Zach Stroup, owner of Looking Glass Smoke Shop and Gallery, disagrees. Turns out, Stroup has been catering to Utah’s Green Scene before there was one.
Rumor has it, amid the hordes of scintillating glass in his shop, Stroup has a crystal ball that allows him to see into the future. Though this highly sought after item isn’t for sale at any price, Stroup did have a free premonition to offer Utah.
“We’re turning green. We thought it would happen sooner, but thankfully, Utah jumped on the medical bandwagon and it has helped my businesses substantially.”
Zach Stroup, owner of Looking Glass Smoke Shop and Gallery
The 35-year-old Stroup has been a cannabis advocate for as long as he can remember, and an entrepreneur for just as long. He started his first construction business while attending Jordan High School – bringing his friends along for the ride.
At first, his focus was purely construction. Tiling, wood working, and roofing “the hard-life,” as Stroup likes to put it. After a friend in Florida got sick with Lyme Disease and started relying on cannabis as a remedy, Stroup’s eyes were opened to both the powers of the plant itself, and to what it could mean for Utah’s inevitably green future.
With only a handful in the state, Stroup felt opening Moonlight Garden Supply on 1573 S. State Street, would pave the way for Utah’ commercial and home cannabis cultivation.
Turns out, he was correct.
Looking through their usual offerings of growing supplies since 2014, you’ll find many are designed for cannabis and hemp cultivation. That’s why Looking Glass opened next door in 2018, effectively creating a one stop shop for growers and consumers, – and Utah’s Green Scene was born.
“A lot of the friends I grew up with left the state to go work in the cannabis industry after high school,” Stroup said. “They learned at the highest level everything about producing and selling it in California’s legal market.
Having the knowledge of the internal workings of the cannabis business, while most people in Utah were unfamiliar with how the industry works, gave us a running head start.” Now that medical cannabis and its producers are making their entrance into the state, these two locations are considered an industry barometer. To date, all eight medical cannabis cultivators rely on Moonlight’s supplies for their grows.
“We are able to take on all of Utah’s [medical cannabis] cultivating accounts, which has helped us tremendously,” Stroup said. “It’s taken us from catering exclusively to backyard, personal gardeners, to handling wholesale orders for large facilities as well.”
Published in Salt Baked City Print Magazine – Spring 2021
