Another legal recreational marijuana store is set to start doing business in Owen Sound.
Cannabis Grey Bruce at 236 8th Street East is now authorized to open after meeting all regulatory requirements and passing a pre-opening inspection by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Owen Sound’s second legal bricks-and-mortar recreational cannabis store will open its doors to customers at 12 p.m. on Friday.
Michael Cochrane, owner of Cannabis Grey Bruce, says the store will offer more than 250 products such as capsules, edibles, drinks, extracts and flower.
Cochrane has run several other businesses and says he was interested in the regulated cannabis industry because it allows new jobs and tax revenue to be created from what was formerly a black market.
“I like that the money is going back into communities, even municipalities that opted-in,” Cochrane explains. “And I like that going forward as the market expands money will be allocated for priorities like mental health, homelessness and crisis workers.”
“Instead of the black market taking all the money and not creating jobs, the government took the proper steps to legalize it and make revenue off it so it can go back into communities.”
Steve Busey, general manager of Cannabis Grey Bruce, says they’re committed to providing recreational marijuana products in a safe, professional manner and ensuring they never get into the hands of minors.
“I’m very excited we have the opportunity to serve this area,” Busey says.
Cochrane anticipates the demand for recreational marijuana products is strong in Grey Bruce. He’s had market studies completed and anecdotally has received numerous calls and inquiries already.
“I’m astonished who’s a cannabis user,” Cochrane says. “I think the market is going to be strong, certainly because it’s trending more towards edibles, drinks and other ways to consume cannabis rather than the traditional way of just smoking the flower.”
From Oct. 2-8, Cannabis Grey Bruce will be open 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Regular hours of operation from Oct. 9 onwards will be 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday.
Currently, Owen Sound is the only municipality in Grey and Bruce counties to have legal recreational marijuana stores. However, there are nine other cannabis retail store applications currently being reviewed by the AGCO for potential shops in Port Elgin, Southampton, Sauble Beach, Walkerton, Hanover and The Blue Mountains.
Cochrane plans to open multiple Cannabis Grey Bruce locations. The company has another AGCO licence application in the queue for a store on Albert Street in Southampton.
A pre-store inspection has already been completed. Cochrane expects the Southampton location will complete the AGCO regulatory process and be ready to open by February 2021.
