Lake Country含羞草研究社檚 second cannabis retail store is up and running, and it含羞草研究社檚 looking to boost the regulated market locally and beyond.
Dutch Love Cannabis opened its doors Wednesday (Nov. 18) in the Village Centre on Main Street.
Harrison Stoker, vice president of brand at Donnelly Group (Dutch Love含羞草研究社檚 parent company), said he含羞草研究社檚 excited to have a new retail store open just a stone含羞草研究社檚 throw from Kelowna, where Dutch Love became the city含羞草研究社檚 first regulated cannabis store last summer.
含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檝e got a lot of really good local producer relationships in the Okanagan,含羞草研究社� Stoker said. 含羞草研究社淲e含羞草研究社檙e especially excited to have another outlet to be able to service the Okanagan population, to effectively buy the cannabis that含羞草研究社檚 grown in their back yard.含羞草研究社�
It含羞草研究社檚 the company含羞草研究社檚 19th retail store in Canada and the sixth to crop up in B.C. As Lake Country council heard , the company is committed to working with other regulated stores to combat the illicit cannabis market.
That endeavour starts with modernizing the regulated market: Dutch Love has been lobbying the provincial government to equip the cannabis market with retail features like online shipping and delivery.
含羞草研究社淔eatures which I think today, from a consumer perspective, we kind of take for granted,含羞草研究社� Stoker said. 含羞草研究社淲ith Amazon and online e-commerce and the stuff that already exists, it含羞草研究社檚 crazy to think in 2020 you can含羞草研究社檛 have that same accessibility and convenience in cannabis retail.含羞草研究社�
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Dutch Love has said it will work with Lake Country Cannabis 含羞草研究社� the district含羞草研究社檚 other legal pot shop 含羞草研究社� to tackle the grey market.
含羞草研究社淥ur position is combating the illicit market shouldn含羞草研究社檛 necessarily be entirely incumbent upon the province. As a collective, regulated retail coalition we can really help out quite a bit if we含羞草研究社檙e less constrained by these prohibitions.含羞草研究社�
The company is also helping online cannabis aggregators like Weedmaps and Leafly to legitimize their revenue streams and move away from grey-market products.
Dutch Love worked with Leafly through the legalization period to build a revenue model that doesn含羞草研究社檛 rely on illicit products. Stoker said Leafly has since expunged all illicit products from their website, and Weedmaps is on the same path.
含羞草研究社淭hey含羞草研究社檙e now very actively starting to strip out illicit operations, which is great, and they含羞草研究社檝e committed to us vocally that by the end of the year they will fully turn the corner and only be hosting regulated retail on their websites,含羞草研究社� Stoker said.
There are relatively fewer grey-market options in the Lake Country area compared to Vancouver, where the company operates four stores. For those in Lake Country who frequent the so-called 含羞草研究社淕reen Mile含羞草研究社� along Westside Road, Stoker says the regulated store can offer services the grey market can含羞草研究社檛.
含羞草研究社淥ne thing that we can offer is safe, dependable, accurately labelled products that are regulated by Health Canada,含羞草研究社� he said. 含羞草研究社淎nd I think we have a customer experience that is perhaps challenging for the illicit market to mirror.含羞草研究社�
Dutch Love has also partnered with Lake Country Food Bank to donate 10 per cent of proceeds earned from the Lake Country store含羞草研究社檚 first month.
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