In the heart of Soho, sandwiched between high-fashion flagships and design stores, is Seth Rogen’s first Houseplant pop-up, a “Gloopy” universe fit for Fegan Floop and the Thumb-Thumbs from “Spy Kids.” Complete with a rock-climbing wall, a cocktail—slash—ice cream bar and baby blue blob tables, it’s just as odd and as loud as the 43-year-old imagined it would be when he first conceptualized the idea for his smoking accessories and lifestyle brand with Evan Goldberg and Michael Mohr before its launch in 2019.  

“We’re a weird company,” Rogen told WWD ahead of the store’s VIP opening inside Shopify New York on Thursday. “We make ashtrays and vinyl records and drinks. So, to see it sort of come to life in a real place in Soho, it just feels like a real Thor in a great way, a fun place.”  

As one of the first lifestyle brands to double down on the cannabis category, debuting in Canada first before launching in the U.S. in 2021, Houseplant has positioned itself at the front of a THC-infused wellness frontier. The idea for the brand sprang from the “Knocked Up” actor’s own avidness for THC, and his penchant for unabashedly praising it.

“We saw the cannabis space kind of evolving, and knew that based on Seth as a public figure, who was not shy about the role that weed played in his life and then the work that he and Evan did through media and big movies, like ‘Pineapple Express,’ was a great data point and reality for us to look at and realize that there was something massive that we could put together in this larger THC category,” said Mohr.  

Luckily, they were right. With the legalization of recreational marijuana in 24 states and D.C., the wellness industry has grown to power products with THC as mechanisms for relaxation, with a slew of other celebrities cashing in on the category, too, including Travis Barker, Gwyneth Paltrow, Bella Thorne and Whitney Port. Of course, Rogen and Mohr haven’t concerned themselves with other brands coming up on the scene; they’ve stayed in their own lane and continued to create what they want.

“A few years ago, CBD was kind of all the rage, but it’s not a thing we personally use,” Rogen said. “We just continue to make things that we think are cool and interesting, and there does seem like a direct correlation between the things that we’re really enthusiastic about and what the people who buy our products are enthusiastic about.”

An example of this is Houseplant’s THC-infused seltzers. Available in citrus, pineapple, and black cherry flavors, the Houseplant seltzers are made with three milligrams of Hemp-Derived THC, zero sugar and zero calories, a beverage Rogen thinks his character, Matt Remick, in “The Studio” could use. While the seltzers are now being sold in 12 Total Wine stores across the U.S., retail has proven to be a difficult feat.

“The category needs a lot more regulation and clear rules,” Mohr explained. “There’s still a lot of education that’s needed in this category. Our beverages are low-dose right now, and we’ll make stronger ones in the future, but right now, a lot of people don’t even know you can drink THC, never mind what the right dose is for them.”

That being said, the Shopify pop-up is a good starting point for Houseplant’s future in retail. “It’s nice I think stigmas the are crumbling, and the perspective is shifting,” Mohr said. “So when we’re able to do executions like have a big retail store with Shopify being our e-commerce partner and having us take a physical retail space to showcase our brand without needing to be cute about what it is; that’s really exciting.”

“And a huge step in the right direction,” Rogen added.

The Houseplant pop-up will be open from Oct. 17 through Oct. 19 at 131 Greene Street in Lower Manhattan. Customers can explore Houseplant’s collection of ceramics and decor and order online through Shopify.