Chicken Coop: Home Blown Glass
Hidden on a back street in Tempe is one of the longest running and well known production glass shops in the cannabis and glass community. For over 20 years, Fred, the owner of Home Blown Glass, has been making quality smoking accessories for shops all over the country. Home Blown Glass started as a hobby in 1996. Three years later, it was a legitimate business with over five full time employees.
When Home Blown Glass first started, just making and selling anything related to smoking cannabis was highly illegal. Because of this, Fred came up with an ingenious way to make money and not get in trouble with the authorities. They made Pipes with no carbs, one hitters, and parts for bongs or ‘water pipes’ as most of us remember having to call them back in the day.
Fred has watched as the cannabis laws changed over the years and Home Blown changed with it. They still produce the same great slide bowls, one hitters and pipes that they started with. Today, they also offer a wide variety of accessories for the concentrates side. They have also won 2 Cannabis Cups for Best new product in 2010 and 2011 with their Slider glass Joint.
Recently, Fred gave me a tour of the facility and told me the story of Home Blown Glass. A lot of what they do is all made in house. They produce their own tubing and rod for most of what they do. Home Blown Glass offers over 60 critters on the different products they make. The studio is completely set up to accommodate a full team of glass crafters. At one time they had 14 full time employees and have hosted many big names in the industry. Fish, Josh Mazet, Shuhbuh, Billy the Kid and my good friend DellaLuna (just to name a few) have all put time in behind the torch at Home Blown Glass. Some of the employees have even worked here for 15 years. Talking with Fred, it was clear that he really cares for his team and takes good care of his employees.
One of the things I really like about Home Blown Glass is how supportive Fred is of his employees’ dreams to make it as artists on their own. Each one of the employees is a skilled and talented glass artist with their own small business. In fact, I first learned about Home Blown Glass from DellaLuna who is now running her own glass business after working for Fred for 2.5 years.
In a market saturated with cheap China knock offs, it’s good to know we still have a solid American made company we can rely on. Look at it this way, if local stores and dispensaries are buying from Home Blown Glass instead of China, the money stays in the community. Fred pays his people, who in turn use it to tip a local waiter or buy something from another local store, keeping the money in the community and not going overseas to China. At this point, local is American, so by just buying products like these, made in the USA, it helps keep money here.
If you would like to see Home Blown Glass products in your local head shop or dispensary, ask them to contact Fred at HomeBlownGlass@gmail.com.
Make sure you check out all the great artists that call Home Blown Glass their home: @gaberealglass @imaginationglass @hempadelic @ironik710 @biszahaglass @stizle
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