First retail pot shop in Valley opening Friday
Located in Uxbridge, Caroline’s Cannabis the first store of its kind in area
UXBRIDGE — Caroline E. Frankel paces the parking lot of her new mom-and-pop cannabis retail shop on Douglas Street, fielding phone calls from the media and going over last-minute details with Uxbridge
Police Chief Marc Montminy before the store’s widely-anticipated grand opening Friday.
Caroline’s Cannabis, the first woman-owned small business and first general applicant retail-only marijuana business to be licensed by the state, officially opens its doors at 640 Douglas St.
(Route 16) at 11 a.m., and the excitement and anticipation is palpable as Frankel and her staff of 10 employees prepare for that historic moment.
“We need to change the negative social views towards cannabis users. For me it’s always been about breaking down the stereotypes and rising above the stigma.” —Caroline E. Frankel of Caroline’s Cannabis
The first customer to walk through the door will be Will Luzien, a former assistant attorney general who was the campaign manager of the effort to legalize marijuana in Massachusetts through a 2016 ballot question.
Luzien, who is currently the political director of Marijunana Policy Project Massachusetts, is also Frankel’s friend and mentor.
“We’ve known each other for the past six years and I wanted him to be the first customer to walk through the doors of Caroline’s Cannabis,” she said.
Luzien will be in the front of what is expected to be a long line of customers outside Caroline’s Cannabis, a country-inspired cannabis boutique store that offers fine cannabis and cannabis products, including unique handcrafted cannabis inspired home, business and garden décor made with reclaimed wood, barn wood, scrap wood, free wood and salvaged cannabis stalks. It is the first cannabis retail shop to open in the Blackstone Valley.
The grand-opening ceremony will begin with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speaking program attended by Uxbridge town officials and other dignitaries.
Over the last month, Frankel has been busy meeting with town police to review appropriate traffic and parking plans for tomorrow’s opening. Traffic has been a concern across the state since Leicester experienced major backups after one of the first two recreational stores opened in that small town last November.
Caroline’s Cannabis will have at least 50 on-site parking spaces, and there is also a large off-site parking lot across the street. For traffic management, Caroline’s Cannabis is working with the local Police Department, which will have detail officers throughout the area to help manage traffic throughout the day.
Frankel says she is prepared for an influx of customers, but says most of the customers who show up will likely be from the local area – unlike the long lines in Leicester, where many people from out of state stood in line for more than five hours to purchase cannabis from the state’s first retail shop.
As part of grand opening, the store will have a tempo- rary limit on the amount of products customers will be allowed to purchase. As a result, customers will be able to buy one product from each product group, which includes edibles, tinctures, flower and pre-rolled and concentrate.
“For the benefit of all of our customers we’re going to have a temporary limit to ensure that no one leaves here empty handed,” Frankel said.
The cannabis boutique store will open at 11 a.m and close at 7 p.m. Those will be the business hours for the first two weeks to make sure there are no supply problems.
“We’ll be operating on that reduced schedule for at least two weeks to ensure we have enough product for our customers,” she said. “And I’m confident that we will because I’ve been able to find suppliers that believe in me and my business.”
Customers will be prescreened (identification check) before they enter the store and only six customers at a time will be allowed inside. Caroline’s has a staff of 10 employees, five of whom are budtenders who will be working behind the counter to assist customers.
Tomorrow’s grand opening is the culmination of a six years of work to make Caroline’s Cannabis a reality, Frankel says.
“This is really a huge moment for me professionally,” says the former stay-at-home mother. “I am a 20-year cannabis enthusiast and to see where we are today is just incredible.”
A graduate of the North- eastern Institute of Cannabis who also attended Johnson & Wales University for business, Frankel, who grew up in Gardner, Mass., got her foot into the cannabis business initially by selling cannabis-related home decor, such as signs made from reclaimed wood.
“It’s all about spreading the kind word of cannabis and showcasing cannabis in a beautiful way,” she says.
Selling her wares at cannabis trade shows put her in contact with other Cannapreneurs.
“I found myself in that environment and we all saw it (legalizing marijuana for recreational use) coming,” she says. “Once medical marijuana was legalized, we all knew recreational marijuana was next.”
That’s when Frankel decided to begin thinking seriously about starting her own business in the industry. “Being in that environment was a way to position myself as a retailer,” she said.
The Cannabis Control Commission has green-lighted nine retail marijuana stores across the state, and eight have opened their doors to customers. The first stores opened Nov. 20 and through Jan. 27, customers have spent about $28 million on marijuana products in Massachusetts, the CCC said.
Caroline’s Cannabis, LLC is one of six marijuana businesses that have signed community host agreements with the Town of Uxbridge. The CCC approved Caroline’s final retail license last month.
Frankel says Caroline’s Cannabis is a proud supporter of the marijuana movement.
“We believe responsible adults should have a choice not only for medicine but also for recreation,” she said. “We need to change the negative social views towards cannabis users. For me it’s always been about breaking down the stereotypes and rising above the stigma.”
Frankel’s host community agreement with the town calls for a community impact fee that equals 3 percent of sales revenue, on top of a 3 percent local sales tax and additional state taxes.
The town also has retail agreements with Grass Appeal and Gibby’s Garden; Blackstone Valley Naturals LLC, which is looking to operate a cultivation and manufacturing facility at 660 Douglas St.; and Baked Bean LLC, which is looking to set up a marijuana processing and transportation establishment at 504 Quaker Highway.
The town also has a signed host agreement with Deep Roots Craft Cannabis, a family-owned cannabis startup that is looking to establish a marijuana growing and processing operation on West Street
Frankel says she plans to institute a direct giving program that will target donations and sponsorships to advocacy groups, economic empowerment non-profits, and local charities in Worcester County, including the Worcester women’s homeless shelter Abby’s House. She says she will also establish a hiring preference for employees and contractors that reside in the area.
With the historic opening of her retail store just hours away, Frankel says she is ready to go.
“To be the first woman-owned cannabis retail shop in the state is just so exciting,” she says. “I want people to be happy about cannabis and to walk out feeling they were part of something special.”