Here's my now published comment in the NYT:
Long time discriminating and aesthetic-oriented consumer here. Living in "not illegal" New Hampshire I have shopped half a dozen stores in Massachusetts and more than that in Maine. Having a second home in northern Atlantic Canada, I've also shopped government stores in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia and merchant shops in Newfoundland. Some of these shops are woodsy, others are high tech, some bright, others with muted light. I don't care.
What I do care about is viewing a menu before hand so I will know THC levels, whether sativa or indica or hybrid, organic or not, locally grown or processed, women or minority owned, experience of the owners, etc. Is there a really good selection of products and are the products fresh. Do they grow their own, do they process their own, or is it simply a retail operation. Finally, how knowledgeable are the budtenders.
Though I'm quite interested in design, including retail design, quality and selection matter infinitely more than the appearance of the dispensary. Perhaps at the margins new users and casual users will be influenced to make choices by the interior aesthetic, but for most users are far more interested in what will happen inside their heads than the inside of the store.