Lake Country乌鸦传媒檚 second cannabis retail store is up and running, and it乌鸦传媒檚 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乌鸦传媒檚 parent company), said he乌鸦传媒檚 excited to have a new retail store open just a stone乌鸦传媒檚 throw from Kelowna, where Dutch Love became the city乌鸦传媒檚 first regulated cannabis store last summer.
乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檝e got a lot of really good local producer relationships in the Okanagan,乌鸦传媒� Stoker said. 乌鸦传媒淲e乌鸦传媒檙e especially excited to have another outlet to be able to service the Okanagan population, to effectively buy the cannabis that乌鸦传媒檚 grown in their back yard.乌鸦传媒�
It乌鸦传媒檚 the company乌鸦传媒檚 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.
乌鸦传媒淔eatures which I think today, from a consumer perspective, we kind of take for granted,乌鸦传媒� Stoker said. 乌鸦传媒淲ith Amazon and online e-commerce and the stuff that already exists, it乌鸦传媒檚 crazy to think in 2020 you can乌鸦传媒檛 have that same accessibility and convenience in cannabis retail.乌鸦传媒�
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Dutch Love has said it will work with Lake Country Cannabis 乌鸦传媒� the district乌鸦传媒檚 other legal pot shop 乌鸦传媒� to tackle the grey market.
乌鸦传媒淥ur position is combating the illicit market shouldn乌鸦传媒檛 necessarily be entirely incumbent upon the province. As a collective, regulated retail coalition we can really help out quite a bit if we乌鸦传媒檙e less constrained by these prohibitions.乌鸦传媒�
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乌鸦传媒檛 rely on illicit products. Stoker said Leafly has since expunged all illicit products from their website, and Weedmaps is on the same path.
乌鸦传媒淭hey乌鸦传媒檙e now very actively starting to strip out illicit operations, which is great, and they乌鸦传媒檝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,乌鸦传媒� 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 乌鸦传媒淕reen Mile乌鸦传媒� along Westside Road, Stoker says the regulated store can offer services the grey market can乌鸦传媒檛.
乌鸦传媒淥ne thing that we can offer is safe, dependable, accurately labelled products that are regulated by Health Canada,乌鸦传媒� he said. 乌鸦传媒淎nd I think we have a customer experience that is perhaps challenging for the illicit market to mirror.乌鸦传媒�
Dutch Love has also partnered with Lake Country Food Bank to donate 10 per cent of proceeds earned from the Lake Country store乌鸦传媒檚 first month.
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