“It’s our spiritual home. Brand marketing, yes—but also where we host people, make friends, and build community.”
BY TED HILDNER
James and Nicola Stephenson, the well-connected founders of the luxe wellness brand oHHo (THC-infused drinks, CBD face and body creams, chocolates and more) have changed the social landscape of Bedford. The stylish British couple have transformed the once-neglected Bedford firehouse into a buzzy café (with wood-fired pizza ovens), a design-driven concept store, and the official meeting place for Bedford’s creative class.
The Stephensons’ path to Bedford and their cannabis-adjacent wellness brand was anything but predictable. James discovered CBD accidentally, drawn to a product that helped with anxiety and workout recovery. “He didn’t know anything about cannabis,” Nicola says. “And I was basically Nancy Reagan–cannabis wasn’t my thing, full stop!” They watched as friends in California built thoughtful, beautifully branded cannabis companies. “It didn’t feel shady,” Nicola recalls. “It felt grown up. Suddenly, it was something you could be seen buying.”
During COVID, the Stephensons escaped Manhattan with two young sons to a small house in Bedford they thought of as a weekend retreat. With little more than a label maker and just two products–“Rest & Focus” oils–they started concentrating on full-spectrum, hemp-derived CBD designed for sleep, stress, and everyday wellness.
“Retail today has to be experiential. Not precious. Not intimidating. Somewhere people can just be.”
Nicola quickly realized one product wasn’t enough. “People need to feel comfortable,” she reasons. “The question is always: what does this look like?” A high-bar for style and design runs through everything oHHo creates—from branding and packaging you want to display to a covetable lineup of offerings: chocolates, balms, tinctures, and wildly popular low-dose THC drinks that come in the chicest cans.
oHHo’s first storefront on Court Road in Bedford doubled as a small coffee shop. Loyal regulars sipped espresso and James and Nicola quietly educated everyone on the benefits of full-spectrum hemp-derived CBD. “The conversations mattered as much as the transactions,” Nicola says. Their landlord, initially hesitant to rent to a CBD brand, became an advocate after witnessing oHHo products help her husband.
Word spread like wildfire and Bedford embraced oHHo. When the long dormant firehouse became available, the Stephensons envisioned more than a retail opportunity. They saw a missing piece of Bedford life. “Retail today has to be experiential,” Nicola explains. “Not precious. Not intimidating. Somewhere people can just be.”
“It’s European in spirit, but perfectly tuned to Bedford.”
At oHHo, coffee is the gateway, low pressure, no obligation. Guests linger over pizza and explore curated offerings in just about every category. People settle into oversized sofas to work or catch up with friends. “It’s European in spirit, but perfectly tuned to Bedford,” says Nicola.
James’s ‘superpower,’ Nicola says, is sensory and his mission is for products to taste good, smell good, and feel indulgent. “You can help someone sleep,” she says, “but it can also feel luxurious. Those things aren’t mutually exclusive.”
That philosophy extends to oHHo’s hemp-derived THC drinks, created not just for getting a buzz, but for social ease and as an alternative to alcohol. In just six months of wholesale distribution, they’ve sold over 1.8 million cans.
“It’s our spiritual home,” Nicola says of oHHO at the old firehouse. “Brand marketing, yes—but also where we host people, make friends, and build community.
