You might not have ever had a legal stocking stuffer quite like this, but two months after the legalization of marijuana, Jimmy’s Cannabis Shop will be open Tuesday in Estevan, one week before Christmas.
This city’s lone marijuana retail outlet had to wait for a couple of months, as product became available and ready for sale.
“We’re really excited and relieved,” said John Thomas, the co-owner of the outlet along with his brother David. “The staff is really excited and they’ve been as patient as they can have been. It’s just a relief to finally open.”
They could have opened in October if they had the supply and Health Canada inspections but those hurdles have cleared and now the store is set to open.
“We’re really excited to finally be open in Estevan,” he said.
It was a challenge to locate more producers, Thomas said, as they’ve gone through the list of Health Canada producers who weren’t licensed to sell in Saskatchewan.
“We were trying to be more aggressive in going out and finding producers, rather than trying to work with them to try and get licensed in Saskatchewan,” Thomas said. “We were successful in that and that’s one of the reasons we can open in Estevan.”
As part of the 2015 election campaign, Liberal leader Justin Trudeau promised to legalize cannabis. Once he was elected prime minister, that promise became a goal to legalize on Canada Day weekend this year, but that was shifted to Oct. 17 as provinces created their own laws regarding cannabis and how it can be sold.
Saskatchewan went with a lottery system run through the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority (SLGA) for its aspiring retailers, and Jimmy’s Cannabis won a few of those in the province, including the lone Estevan location.
When it was legalized, most stores in the province – including here – couldn’t open due to supply issues.
Now that the store will be open soon, Thomas believes the customer experience will be a good one for those new and experienced with cannabis.
“Part of the customer experience is mandatory IDing for everybody regardless of age,” Thomas said. “That’s regardless if you’re 19 or 90 that’s… kind of the rules the SLGA has set out. But we hope to have a great customer experience, whether they are new users or those who are very knowledgeable on the product. We should have something for everyone.”
Thomas said his staff should be able to provide education as needed to talk about the products.
He said they’ve learned some lessons from a couple of their locations which opened closer to the original legalization date.
“Our starting point here will be much further ahead than when we opened Oct. 17 and we’ve been able to take some of those lessons and bring it to here,” he said. “As a shopping experience, Estevan will have a much greater selection and better products than two months ago when we were really struggling with supply.”
Once the grand opening happens, Jimmy’s will be open 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
