ST. THOMAS — Local music artist Pressure Busspipe, born Delyno Brown, along with his cousin Barbara LeRonde, has started a new venture, this time with The Pressure Spot, branching out from reggae music to cannabis products and a vegan juice bar.
The St. Thomas reggae artist, songwriter, producer and owner of BussPipe Records, is a well-known name in the Virgin Islands, gaining global recognition with his first single, “Love and Affection.” His album “Red Rose” reached the top 10 of the Billboard Top Reggae Albums in 2016 and the USVI Department of Tourism adopted his song “Virgin Islands Nice” for its global marketing campaign, including Pressure’s appearance on the Wendy Williams Show.
When Natural Livity vacated the building on Main Street across from the V.I. Council on the Arts in downtown Charlotte Amalie, Pressure was eyeing the spot for a retail and smoke shop just as the issues around cannabis and medical marijuana became prominent in the Virgin Islands. However, he decided the timing wasn’t right.
“The law wasn’t moving quick enough and I felt like it would be a waste of time for the vision I had at the time. And I wasn’t really thinking about a juice bar; I was thinking about a retail shop, a smoke shop and having music and merchandise. It just felt like a lot of record stores were closing down, so it was more emotional for me, just what I wanted to do but probably not the best business at the time, so I just took a step back,” he said. “Last year, when I saw things were moving forward with the marijuana and the economy, the whole inspiration just revived.”
Pressure got the location he wanted, but he didn’t have a full plan. He turned to his cousin Barbara LeRonde, who had been in the cannabis industry for a long time. They started putting their ideas together to open the family operated Pressure Spot.
“She wanted to bring that same thing to life, it was as easy as that, and we started working towards it,” Pressure said.
LeRonde has a widely varied career. She has a background in agriculture, art, nursing, sales and business management and administration. She was recently honored as a female veteran by Governor Bryan. She ran her own school in Houston, Texas and has also taught at the V.I. Montessori School. During the lockdown caused by the pandemic, she and two other women ran a home school program in Bordeaux for the first year. She also worked in the cannabis industry in California and Jamaica, learning about the entire process “from seed to sale.” She is the owner of a company called Support de Ting, putting together 420 events every year.
LaRonde and four colleagues were the first to approach Senator Positive Nelson about writing laws for cannabis. Since then, LaRonde had her own radio show for over a year, educating the public about cannabis.
“I’ve been the community’s educator, from legislation to government house, a number of different officials as well as community members, in terms of educating on the plant and its many uses and, what is more important to me, the medicine and the industry. The radio show became so instrumental in terms of how we see it. The education is what it takes,” she said.
The bright and airy Pressure Spot has two main areas. One features local seasonal juices and has a completely vegan menu of salads, wraps, vegan burgers, soups, breakfast bowls and desserts. They have an indoor garden as well as a space out back with more gardening, a place for customers can sit back and relax. What they don’t grow in the garden, they buy from local farmers.
The other half of The Pressure Spot is dedicated to all things cannabis. Customers can purchase accessories such as pipes, bongs, lighters, papers, wraps and cones as well as a full line of digestibles and other medicinal products. They offer Delta 8 full spectrum products as well as CBD products.
LeRonde has partnered with a company named Curts Concentrates, which offers gummies, darts, topicals for food, energy shots and oral sprays and more. The Pressure Spot also carries their pain relief balms, tinctures and oils. The pain balm can be found in island doctor’s offices, physical therapy offices, at chiropractors and in drug stores.
The Pressure Spot is in its soft opening stage. Look for an official grand opening before the end of the month. Business hours are 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday.