Locally owned cannabis shops ready to open
Stores offer large product selections, one-stop shopping for customers
When legalization takes effect, Cierra Seiben-Chuback will be one of the youngest recreational cannabis shop owners in the country, and her store will be one of few in Saskatoon ready to open on Oct. 17.
Her passion for the industry began in 2016 after she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and became a medicinal user. When she won the permit lottery, she immediately started creating deadlines to make sure she would be up and running the moment legalization takes hold, she said.
“It was a rat race between me and the other Saskatoon retailers to get our development permit in to the city. So they passed the bylaws one evening and I was at city hall the moment they opened the next day to hand in my development permit,” Seiben-Chuback said.
“I’m an eager beaver. I think that’s due to university and being so used to due dates, so I heard Oct. 17 as a due date — I have to have it done by then.”
Her plan appears to be working. Living Skies Cannabis is ready for legalization day and will remain open seven days a week in its impressive home on Third Avenue. Seiben-Chuback said she hasn’t set her hours yet, but her plan is to stay open as late as possible to cater to the many restaurant, bar and hotel patrons in the area.
She aims to create a one-stop shop for all recreational cannabis needs by offering a wide variety of strains with varying THC and CBD levels in pre-rolled joints, tinctures and gel caps as well as the traditional cannabis flowers — even going so far as to offer her customers the option to purchase cannabis and have it directly delivered to their door by one of Seiben-Chuback’s “budtenders.”
“I think that’s going to be a popular option on our -40 C days here in Saskatchewan,” she laughed.
So far, Living Skies Cannabis is the only cannabis shop planning to offer a wide variety of smoking and vaping accessories, with a heavy emphasis on bongs, alongside its cannabis options. Seiben-Chuback said it simply makes sense to have everything the user needs under one roof.
“I want to be the one-stop shop, so I do have a large selection,” she said. “I just wanted to have it all here — if you can stop at one place for all your cannabis needs, I’d love to be that person.”
LIVING SKIES CANNABIS
Owner: Cierra Seiben-Chuback Address: 208 3rd Avenue South Phone: 306-343-9333; Check Instagram
Say hello to Saskatoon’s home of the Big Bud and other craft and organic cannabis when The Pot Shack opens at a convenient east side location.
Geoff Conn, one of the owners, said the shop aims to open on Oct. 17, but with construction still ongoing early in October, he would rather push the opening back by a few days than have his customers worrying about leaning in wet paint.
The shop will offer a small selection of smoking accessories — including a beginner “stash kit” containing everything a first time user would need to get acquainted with the plant and learn how to use it — the main focus is cannabis and providing the best quality craft and organic options in the city, Conn said. “We will have a selection for customers who come in and want to try smoking from a pipe or vaporizer, So we will have pre-rolled product and that sort of thing for those customers as well — but at this point our focus is to just provide that particular product.”
Conn said the heavy focus on craft cannabis — in flower, gel cap and tincture form — means the shop will stock a few options that likely won’t be offered elsewhere in the city, including Whistler Cannabis and strains with buds that dwarf the smaller traditional cannabis flowers.
“We’ve got some really good suppliers now and hoping to get some more in the future that are more of a micro grower that have been growing for years and are now legalized,” Conn said. “They don’t put out a large volume in a year, but we’d love to capture what they ’re growing and sell it through our store and online.”
Though Conn lives in Alberta, his business partners are based in Saskatoon. He said opening this shop was an exciting opportunity and a bit of a homecoming for him after previously living in Saskatoon.
“We’re kinda coming home and we want to have some fun with this ... We’ve got all the plans in place to help the customers and hopefully that will all work, but chances are we will have to stand back and make some changes,” he said.
“But this is the first time ever across Canada where all the stores that are opening are just doing it by blind luck and education.”
THE POT SHACK
Owners: Geoff Conn, Jason Bremner and Stephen Haynes
Address: #3-1115 Grosvenor Avenue Phone: 306-477-0420; Check Facebook and Instagram