Blackstone Valley’s 1st legal pot shop opens for business
Caroline’s Cannabis in Uxbridge, Mass. makes the area’s first retail marijuana sales
“W
elcome my fellow cannabis enthusiasts!”
With those words, Caroline E. Frankel and her staff greeted more than 100 people who lined up in the rain Friday morning to be among the first customers at Caroline’s Cannabis, the first woman-owned small business and first general applicant retail-only marijuana business to be licensed by the state.
Cheers and applause filled the air as Frankel emerged from the store just before 11 o’clock to cut a green ribbon marking the grand opening of the Blackstone Valley’s first mom-and-pop cannabis retail shop at 640 Douglas St. (Route 16).
“Six years ago I started this journey working in a basement with a laptop, a book of regulations and a dream of finding my place in this blossoming industry,” Frankel told the crowd of customers who stood in a line that snaked across the store’s parking lot.
“We have a beautiful store that Uxbridge can be proud of; that cannabis enthusiasts can be proud of; and that the State of Massachusetts can be proud of,” she said.
Customers began arriving at 9:30 yesterday morning, quickly filling most of the available parking spaces in and around the store, which is located in a small industrial park. Other customers were shuttled to Caroline’s from a remote parking lot about a mile away at Serendipity’s as a half-dozen private security officers kept a visible, but lowkey presence outside.
Unlike the bump-to-bumper traffic that clogged streets in Leicester where the state’s first recreational marijuana shop opened in November, there were no problems to speak of on Douglas Street where traffic flowed normally.
Town officials on hand were Selectmen Jen Modica and Jeffrey Shaw and Police Chief Marc Montminy. They did not take part in ceremony, but watched from afar.
Customers were pre-screened before they entered the store and only six
customers at a time were allowed inside. Caroline’s has a staff of 10 employees, five of whom assisted with customer purchases.
The first customer to walk through the door was 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. Frankel asked Luzien, her friend and mentor, to be the first customer to make a purchase.
“It was an honor and a privilege to be the first customer,” said Luzien, political director of Marijuana Policy Project Massachusetts, who spent $180 on various products at the store. “I’m so excited for Caroline. She worked very hard for this. It’s a beautiful, clean store and I think its going to be a tremendous asset to Uxbridge’s business community. It was a pleasure to share this moment with her.”
The second customer in line was Caroline Pineu, another friend and fellow “cannapreneur” who is in the process of opening her own cannabis retail shop in Haverill, Mass.
“Caroline and I have been friends and canna-sisters for a long time,” she said. “I’m extremely proud of everything she has accomplished and I wanted to be her to show my love and support.”
Caroline’s Cannabis is 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.
For Friday’s grand opening, the store had a temporary limit on the amount of products customers were able to purchase. As a result, customers were able to buy one product from each product group, which included edibles, tinctures, flower and pre-rolled and concentrate.
The cannabis boutique store opened at 11 a.m and closed at 7 p.m. Those will be the business hours for the first two weeks to make sure there are no supply problems.
Friday’s grand opening was the culmination of a six years of work to make Caroline’s Cannabis a reality, Frankel says.
A graduate of the Northeastern 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. “We believe responsible adults should have a choice not only for medicine but also for recreation. 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.”
The Cannabis Control Commission has green-lighted retail marijuana stores across the state, and 11 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’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.
Caroline’ Cannabis won’t be the only marijuana business in Uxbridge. 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.
Making the trip yesterday to Caroline’s was Jeff Gahan of Jamaica Plain.
“It’s a beautiful store in a great spot,” he says. “I’m a medical (marijuana) patient, but its gratifying to see that people now have the right to use cannabis recreationally if they so choose. What I like about shops like this is that they are also big on education. There’s a lot of misinformation about marijuana and people like Caroline Frankel are trying to change that.”