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Spiritleaf 3rd cannabis store open in Kelowna

Published on May 14, 2020 by oz. staff

This weekend, Kelowna will have a third retail cannabis store.

Spiritleaf’s Kelowna location is having its grand opening on May 16.

The store, located at Unit 1B, 1455 Harvey Ave., is open between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m.

They’re encouraging people to take their time through the weekend to visit, so there isn’t a large congregation at the store.

The local franchise owner Tarek Shbib told the oz. that deeming cannabis essential is the right decision.

“It’s good for the industry as a whole,” he says. “The store motto is ‘cannabis for all.’ Cannabis is something people use in many different ways.”

Spiritleaf Kelowna is following all of the government’s recommendations.

There are stickers on the floor to show people where to stand, plexiglass barriers to protect employees and an online reservation system.

“The number 1 priority is to keep the customers and employees safe and healthy,” he says. “We’ve totally revamped our process and operation.”

Kelowna now has three stores that are open, Spiritleaf, Hobo and Cheeba Cheebas.

Spiritleaf, meanwhile, is the first cannabis retailer to have stores in all four major Okanagan city centres, with locations in Vernon, West Kelowna, Penticton, and now Kelowna.

Darren Bondar, President and CEO of Spiritleaf, recently said during a BDSA webinar on cannabis and COVID-19 that the franchise model is serving his company well through this crisis, as each store owner is able to adapt to the specific needs of their customer base.

He says Spiritleaf is on track to have 80 stores open by the end of the year, up from its current count of 46.