The weed is on full display at The Hunny Pot, Toronto鈥檚 first legal brick-and-mortar cannabis store.
Over four floors on the trendy Queen Street West strip, customers in the country鈥檚 most populous city can now browse for marijuana openly and legally in-person for the first time.
Educational posters lined the walls, products were presented stylishly, including a golden blunt on a small pedestal. Dozens of staff dubbed 鈥渂udtenders鈥� waited to serve a line of customers 鈥� including one who set up a tent to hold a spot in line overnight -- before the doors opened at 9 a.m. on Monday. The queue stretched around the building.
Owner Hunny Gawri has a momentary domination of the brick-and-mortar cannabis industry in Toronto before other planned stores open in the city. And his team was ready and anxious to open the doors.
鈥淭he day is finally here,鈥� he told CP24. 鈥淲hether we have two people or 10,000 people -- we鈥檙e prepared.鈥�
The first customer was a staged purchase planned by the store鈥檚 PR company. The woman chose 1 gram of the popular 鈥淲hite Widow鈥� hybrid strain of cannabis and paid in cash. Genuine customers began filling the shop Monday morning, including people from the U.S. The 鈥渂udtenders鈥� check your ID at the counter and will create a profile for the purchaser, but you need not give your real name.
鈥淵ou can give a name, a first name, a last initial, you can call yourself Spider-Man if you鈥檇 like to,鈥� said communications rep Cameron Brown.
The store is the first of several planned stores in Toronto and the only to complete the approval process in time for the April 1 opening date. A store in Brampton, Ont., and Burlington, Ont., also opened their doors today. Stores that fail to open today could face initial fines of more than $12,000, according to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Though supply issues have plagued the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS) since legalization in October, Hunny Pot owner Gawri isn鈥檛 concerned. He鈥檚 confident in the Ontario government鈥檚 decision to limit licences for stores to 25 and understands that they plan to bring on more licenced producers.
鈥淔rom what we鈥檝e ordered, we think it鈥檚 a decent amount of supply,鈥� he said. 鈥淔rom my conversations with (the OCS) they鈥檝e been very confident in the supply. They鈥檝e been very open in communication.鈥�
For now Gawri is glad he鈥檚 playing a part in breaking down a cannabis stigma.
鈥淗aving a retail experience like this 鈥� we want to make it as easy as buying shoes or clothes,鈥� he said.
