BROADCASTS.com

The closest thing to a bat signal for stoners is the blue lettering of the Cookies logo. When a new storefront comes to a strip mall or a downtown shopping district, fans flock to grand-opening parties, drawn by a love of the brand \u2014 one based on more than its reputation for selling extremely potent weed.\n\nPeople often compare Cookies to the streetwear brand Supreme. That\u2019s accurate in one very literal sense \u2014 they each sell a lot of hats \u2014 and in other, more subjective ones. They share a penchant for collaboration-based marketing; their appeal to mainstream audiences is tied up with their implied connections to illicit subcultures; and they\u2019ve each been expanding rapidly in recent years.\n\nAll of it is inextricable from Berner, the stage name of Gilbert Milam, 40, Cookies\u2019 co-founder and chief executive, who spent two decades as a rapper with a sideline as a dealer \u2014 or as a dealer with a sideline as a rapper. With the company\u2019s success, he is estimated to be one of the wealthiest rappers in the world, without having ever released a hit record.