Cannabis store has local connection
Peterborough native wants Sparq Retail to give back to community
Robert Brunsch is aspiring to engage and interact with the community when he launches Sparq Retail, a locally owned cannabis retail store set to open early in 2021.
Sparq Retail is planning two locations, with licensing approved for the first at 340 Charlotte St., and licensing for the second expected by early summer at 861 Lansdowne St. W.
Brunsch is a Peterborough native and says that gives him an edge over larger cannabis corporations.
“I was born here,” he said, “except for a two-year stint to play university football in Montreal. My wife and I both graduated from Trent, so we feel as a company we are a little more in tune with the Peterborough community.”
Brunsch said his business partner approached him about the opportunity in the market.
“I was in with both feet,” he said. “I come from a sales background in the car dealership world. I have always kind of seen the benefits to cannabis products.”
He said what really excited him was the introduction of the cannabis 2.0 system, giving people more consumption options.
“You went from dried flower to topical treatments, oils, rollon products, so just the opportunity in how much more accessible the products have become for people,” he said.
Brunsch said he was taught to avoid cannabis while growing up.
“My father was a police officer my whole life in Peterborough, so, ‘It’s illegal, it’s bad, don’t touch it.’ As I got older, I started to see more benefits of it. I have gone through issues with anxiety and I saw the benefits. I have family members who ingest edibles as opposed to sleeping medication in the evenings and they are finding benefits there.”
He said one of the benefits of being a local business owner is the opportunity to give back to the community.
“We don’t want to be just a business that collects money in the community and doesn’t return anything,” he said.
“Whether it’s supporting our local food banks, local charitable organizations, as much as we can of course with compliance, but we feel that’s one big benefit to us being local.”
Hiring the right people is important, Brunsch said.
“A lot of the people I am looking at hiring happen to live in the downtown core and it just so happens that it comes up in the interview.
“So, having the local community members, as well as our staff members is important to us because it just further builds that connect and the relationship.”