MONTPELIER — The area’s first recreational cannabis shop opened for business Friday in Montpelier, with a focus on social equity and bringing the cannabis industry out of the shadows and into the light.
Gram Central held its grand opening Friday at its location on River Street next to House of Tang. It’s run by Jesse Harper, Amanda Kitchen and Ben Jenkins. Harper serves as the company’s chief executive officer, while Kitchen serves as chief operating officer and compliance officer and Jenkins is director of cultivation. The store is in the same building as Harper’s Vermont Security business.
Gram Central is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. It offers tinctures, edibles, flower and other cannabis products, with an eighth of an ounce of flower starting at $35 before taxes.
Kitchen said the business saw about 60 customers in its first two hours on Friday.
The name for the store is a play on words. The central part speaks to the previously underground nature of the cannabis industry, with the store’s logo resembling a sign for a subway station.
“Cannabis has been a prohibited item for so long. It’s a nod to that history,” Harper said.
The gram piece of the business name comes from the unit of measure typically used to weigh cannabis.
Marijuana is still illegal to possess and sell federally. Those looking to buy product from the store will either need to bring cash with them or use the on-site ATM. The store can’t take a debit or credit card since banks are hesitant to work with marijuana businesses given the federal prohibition.
Harper said the store will have a website up and running in a couple weeks, where customers can place an order and then pay for the order with cash when they come to pick it up.
Those at the business say it’s also a central hub for community activism, growers and creators. The store features a display of pieces created by artist Erik Gillard. Harper said supporting the arts and culture has always been a part of cannabis culture.
Kitchen, who is a defense attorney, said she will hold free monthly expungement clinics for those looking to get into the industry.
“Small cultivators have been reluctant to enter the legal market because they have a record,” she said.
Kitchen said she will help people with the paperwork needed to get prior convictions on state charges expunged from their record, if their convictions are eligible.
She said much of the company’s culture is about supporting small growers and creating a sense of community.
While Harper said it’s “pretty frickin’ awesome” to be standing in his store selling marijuana legally, he said he and the others at the business are exhausted having gotten to this point. He and Kitchen praised the state’s Cannabis Control Board for its support and for some of the policy decisions it’s made with a focus on social equity. They acknowledged it wasn’t easy getting an entire industry up and running statewide given the board’s limited resources and limited amount of time to do so.
Harper said the process to get the business off the ground has been a bit of a roller coaster ride with all the changes made as the process went forward. He said it also took a strong amount of faith and trust that the board would approve the license with all of the other documentation and investment needed before the license was granted.
The rush to get the industry going has left businesses with limited supply of cannabis. Harper said Gram Central has enough supply on hand right now, but he is concerned about how much it will have going forward. That’s part of the reason why they want to bring in as many small growers and producers as possible.
“One of the things I’m really excited about is to see the amazing products that Vermonters create with THC and CBD,” he said.
eric.blaisdell @timesargus.com
