How Spinx Banked $1.8M in THC Drinks With Zero Marketing

$267K in 3 Months, $0 Spent on Marketing

Spinx generated $267,191 in THC beverage sales during the first three months after rolling out the products across its c-store chain — and the South Carolina retailer spent nothing on marketing to make it happen.

The chain's roughly 100 stores pulled in more than $1.8 million in THC drink sales since the late-2025 launch, according to Hayley Thrift, director of public relations for Spinx. She spoke Oct. 7 at the NACS Show in Las Vegas. If the products stay legal, Spinx projects $2.3 million in sales next year.

Why Zero Marketing Worked

Spinx first weighed adding THC drinks in summer 2025 and began stocking them later in the year. The retailer treated it as a quiet company-wide pilot. No commercials ran. No paid social posts went out. Beyond green signage and a shelf placement next to alcoholic beverages, the chain made almost no announcement.

"We did not advertise it. We did not market it. We did not put commercials out. We didn't even put it on social media that we were putting these in our stores. It was kind of a company-wide pilot, if you will," Thrift said.

Sales still arrived. Word of mouth carried them.

"I would be getting my hair done, and my hairdresser is like, 'Spinx sells this?' And then she'd tell the whole salon, and it just grew in that way," Thrift said.

The early numbers, per Thrift:

• $267,191 in the first 90 days
• About $27,000 per store on average
• More than $1.8 million in cumulative sales since launch

Where C-Stores Stand in the THC Category

Spinx's results mirror a broader surge across the channel. C-store THC beverage sales rose 74% year over year, according to NielsenIQ data shared at the session. Convenience stores now hold nearly 25% market share in the category, putting them second only to liquor stores — and growing faster.

Diana Eberlein, chair of the Coalition for Adult Beverage Alternatives, tied the channel's edge to impulse occasion.

"If you're in a store and you're like, okay, I need something, you're going to grab it. This is where [c-stores] shine, in particular," Eberlein said.

The implication for marketers: customers discover THC drinks in the same momentary, low-funnel occasions that already drive strong c-store sales in energy drinks, water, and other grab-and-go SKUs. The store itself is the media plan. Discoverability on the shelf, not paid impressions, carries the category.

What Happens Next: A Dec. 11 Federal Ban

That windfall has an expiration date. A federal law set to take effect Dec. 11, 2026 would ban sales of THC beverages in South Carolina, Spinx's home state. For now, the retailer continues to stock the products.

The deadline puts an 11-week clock on a category Spinx built without marketing dollars. Marketers and retail buyers watching the THC space now have roughly two months to model how a federal carve-out, a state-level response, or an outright category pivot would reset the math — and whether Spinx's zero-budget discovery model survives the legal reset intact.