Stage One Dispensary opened its storefront on July 7, 2023, on the first floor of the former Rensselaer County Bank at 810 Broadway in Rensselaer. The Governor's office said that opening was the Capital Region's first conversion of a delivery-only cannabis business into a full-service dispensary. Only Upstate Canna Co. in Schenectady, which opened that April, was selling adult-use cannabis in the region earlier. This review draws on state announcements, WNYT's coverage of the opening and the shop's own website. High Today has not visited in person.
Delivery first, storefront second
When New York launched CAURD retail, many licensees couldn't find or finance a storefront, so the state let some of them start with delivery only. Stage One was one of those businesses. It built a customer base by delivering before it had a counter, then moved into the Broadway space in mid-2023. Delivery is still part of the business. The shop's website advertises free delivery along with in-store sales and pickup.
That path was common in 2023. The state's storefront build-out program fell behind schedule, so the Office of Cannabis Management let CAURD licensees run delivery-only businesses while they waited for retail space. Stage One was one of the first to complete the switch. The Governor's office announced it alongside two other openings that same week: Exscape in Vestal, near Binghamton, on July 8, and Strain Stars in Farmingdale on Long Island.
Four justice-involved co-owners
The license, OCM-CAURD-23-000011, belongs to Stage One Cannabis LLC. The company is 100% owned by four justice-involved people: Josh and Sugey Mirsky and Nathaniel Innes and Galina German-Innes. CAURD licenses were reserved for applicants with a past cannabis conviction, or a close relative with one, who also had a record of running a profitable business. Stage One's ownership fits that design exactly.
The shop leans into that history. Its website offers a free game called "Legacy to Legal," along with a podcast and blog posts on harm reduction and responsible use. Few Capital Region dispensaries do this much education online, and it's consistent with a business owned by people who came out of the old enforcement system.
Bank vaults on Broadway
At the opening, an owner told WNYT that the building still has several historic features, including multiple bank vaults, and that the design kept them while building a modern retail space around them. The shop occupies Unit C on the first floor. The state's verification list records the address as 810C Broadway, so use that form if a navigation app has trouble finding the unit. Turning an old bank into a dispensary is practical as well as attractive. Cannabis retailers have strict security and storage rules, and a building designed around vaults already has the secure back-of-house space those rules require.
Rensselaer is a small city on the east bank of the Hudson, directly across the river from downtown Albany. It's best known to travelers as the home of the Albany-Rensselaer Amtrak station. Broadway runs parallel to the river through the city's older commercial blocks. For Albany residents, Stage One is a short drive over the Dunn Memorial Bridge. For people in Rensselaer, East Greenbush and the rest of southern Rensselaer County, it's closer than anything on Central Avenue. A third-party guide on JointCommerce mentions parking and nearby bus routes, but the shop's own site gives no parking details, so confirm before you go.
Late nights and free delivery
Stage One's hours are unusually late for the Capital Region. According to its website:
- Monday–Thursday: 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
- Friday: 9 a.m. to midnight
- Saturday: 10 a.m. to midnight
- Sunday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Few licensed shops nearby stay open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays, which makes Stage One useful for late-weekend shopping. The Sunday close is early, though, so plan ahead. The phone number is (518) 451-9540. The website doesn't publish a delivery-area map, so call or check the ordering page to see whether your address qualifies.
What the menu covers, tax included
The website organizes the menu into flower, concentrates, disposable vapes, cartridges, gummies and other edibles, pre-rolls and THC beverages. It also lists the shop on Weedmaps, Leafly and Dutchie. One useful detail: the shop states that all listed prices include New York's 13% cannabis excise tax and the THC potency tax, so the shelf price is the price you pay at checkout. That makes it easier to compare Stage One with shops that add taxes at the register.
New buyers comparing gummies with flower should read our explainer on how long edible and smoked highs last. If you're stocking up for a weekend, our explainer on New York's purchase and possession limits explains the possession limits.
Reading a tax-inclusive price tag
Including tax in the shelf price makes a real difference. Many New York stores show the pre-tax price and add the state and local cannabis taxes at checkout, so a product that looks cheaper on another menu can end up costing about the same once you pay. At Stage One, the number on the menu is the number you pay. When comparing it with a store that adds tax at the register, multiply the other store's listed price by roughly 1.13 to compare fairly.
This also matters for delivery. Because Stage One advertises free delivery and tax-inclusive prices, the total you see when you order should match what you pay at the door, apart from any tip you choose to give. If you're unsure how much to tip a delivery driver or budtender in New York, our etiquette coverage explains the norms.
Rensselaer's two-shop riverfront
Stage One is no longer the only licensed shop in Rensselaer. The state's verification list also shows High Frequency at 96 Columbia Street. Across the river, Capital District Cannabis & Wellness at 997 Central Avenue became the City of Albany's first adult-use dispensary in December 2023, and Troy's 420 Bliss, up the river on Hoosick Street, had launched just 24 hours earlier.
Stage One's strengths are its early start, its fully justice-involved ownership, the late weekend hours and the tax-inclusive pricing. For more options around the capital, browse our list of standout Albany-area shops. Every licensed store is mapped on High Today's dispensary directory. The live menu and delivery ordering are on the official Stage One Dispensary website.
Best fit: late-weekend Rensselaer County shoppers
Stage One suits Rensselaer County residents who would rather not cross the river, Albany shoppers who need a store open late on a Friday or Saturday, anyone who wants free delivery from an equity-licensed business, and buyers who prefer posted prices that already include tax.