THC beverages aren’t cannibalizing beer sales but expanding the business, according to Dan Razowsky, who spoke at the CSP Cannabis Forum on March 24 in Lombard, Illinois.
Razowsky is director of marketing, category manager and pricebook coordinator for Northbrook, Illinois-based Rmarts convenience stores. The family-owned and -operated c-store chain started in 1951 in downtown Chicago. With 12 locations today, Razowsky shared lessons the company learned while launching THC products in stores.
To put it in perspective, Razowsky said beer alone delivered steady year-over-year gains from July 1, 2025, through Feb. 28, 2026, with unit sales up 5%, gross profit dollars rising 15% and margins improving by 2 percentage points.
When THC products are included, however, growth accelerates, he said. Total units increased 11%, gross profit jumped 31% and margins expanded by 4 points.
THC is generating incremental business rather than eroding beers sales, he said.
“This is new business,” he said, adding it’s “not taking away overall category beer sales.”
Razowsky outlined how the company made THC beverages work in Chicago, including store segmentation and local compliance. He said the company has five stores that sell beer and can carry THC beverages; six stores that don’t sell beer but can carry THC beverages; and one store where THC products are not allowed due to municipal code.
In stores that carry beer, Razowsky said the company sells about three to four THC beverage cans per store per day.
“This is a good start,” he said.
In stores that don’t sell beer, sales are slower. Razowsky said part of the reason is that these customers are not “there yet” when it comes to purchasing THC beverages.
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