Owen Sound’s first legal bricks-and-mortar pot shop is expected to open for business on Saturday.
Capturing Eden Owen Sound co-owner and manager Angie Messerschmidt says the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario will perform a final compliance inspection Friday and anticipates the store will get the green light to begin operating as a licenced cannabis retail store.
If it does, the location on 2nd Avenue West will open at 11 a.m. Saturday as Owen Sound’s — and Grey Bruce’s — first AGCO licenced legal marijuana store.
“It’s been a long time in the making, a long time coming,” Messerschmidt says. “Everything looks good and I’m pretty sure we will be moving forward.”
Capturing Eden will feature many different marijuana products such as edibles, tinctures and flower.
Tasha Tiemens, an assistant manager at the store, says they’re optimistic there is demand for marijuana products in Grey Bruce — noting they’ve had countless phone inquiries over the past few months as the community learned Capturing Eden was in the queue to be licenced.
“We’re excited to help the community to access the experience they’re looking for, safely and regulated,” Tiemens says. “That’s something we’re really proud to give to the community here since it’s not available in this area. To service the whole Grey Bruce area, we’re really excited about that.”
In a sense, this is a re-opening for Capturing Eden. Messerschmidt notes the business originally started as a medical assessment centre with accessories. She says with the change to a licenced marijuana retailer at the storefront in Owen Sound, the medical cannabis business will shift to a new online/mobile service known as Eden West.
“That’s the only downside of this,” Messerschmidt says. “But, we want to make sure those people we have serviced are still going to be looked after. We can do appointments and will continue to do mobile visits.”
Capturing Eden Owen Sound will be open seven days a week. The hours of operation are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
In addition to this business, there are eight other cannabis retail store applications currently being reviewed by the AGCO for potential shops in Owen Sound, Port Elgin, Southampton, Sauble Beach, Walkerton, Hanover and The Blue Mountains.