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