With recreational cannabis sales beginning on January 10 in Connecticut, RISE Dispensary in Branford celebrated the launch with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a steel drum band, and treats for all guests to enjoy. Previously known as Bluepoint Wellness of CT, it is only one of the nine dispensaries opening for adult-use sales in the state.
A Long-Awaited Celebration for Connecticut
“This is something that we have been waiting for for a long time. Not just us, but the entire community of Branford and the state of Connecticut, as well,” David Bodurtha, Commercial General Manager for Green Thumb’s Northeast region, said. “We are just really thrilled to be able to be here and serve the community today.”
RISE Dispensaries is a fast-growing national retail cannabis store founded under Green Thumb Industries. They have locations all over the country including California, Florida, Illinois, and Maryland, among many others. The goal is, bringing recreational and medical cannabis to consumers everywhere.
A Boost in Local Revenue
Annual cannabis sales could exceed $375 million in Connecticut this year. With roughly 53,000 registered medical marijuana patients, medical marijuana sales in the state were projected to be as high as $210 million in 2022. Over the next seven years, Connecticut is estimated to generate more than $1.1 billion in state and local tax revenue.
“With the expansion of Rise to serve recreational customers, in addition to the medicinal customers, it is directly supporting residents in the state. It furthers our initiative to promote Connecticut-grown businesses that pay back into our community,” Robin Comey, Connecticut State Representative, said. “We in Connecticut set out to pass the most equitable and community-centric adult-use cannabis legislation we could, and this here today is another step in removing the stereotypes that come along with marijuana.”
Supporting Local Black-Owned Businesses
RISE Dispensary is donating all of their first day profits of adult-use cannabis sales to the Black Business Alliance. This is a non-profit organization seeking to help small-and-medium-sized black and minority businesses throughout Connecticut and the U.S. Bodurtha says helping the social equity community is important to both Green Thumb and RISE and an issue that needs to be talked about.
“The Black Business Alliance is grateful to be a recipient of the first day profits from RISE. I thank them for thinking of us and supporting the values of black-owned businesses across the state of Connecticut. When you think about the beginning of COVID, more than 40% of black-owned businesses had to close their doors. This is just a symptom of what has been festering underground for so many years. This is an opportunity to support an organization that helps these businesses from the ground up,” Anne-Marie Knight, Executive Director of the Black Business Alliance, said.
Keeping Shelves Stocked
Currently, the RISE Dispensary Branford location sells flower, vapes, and pre-rolls to recreational consumers. For medical patients, the dispensary offers flower, vapes, edibles, pre-rolls, extracts, topicals, and tinctures. Since Connecticut is strict with the cannabis brands they approve to be sold at retailers, RISE offers a limited number in their store.
“Adult-use is important for us to make sure we have products on our shelves, so we have to be really narrow and carry a deeper inventory of certain SKUs to make sure we have enough,” Bodurtha said. “So we are limited in terms of what we have on the menu today. I think once the program loosens up a little bit, we are going to enter more brands into the store.”
Future Opportunities in Connecticut
In Connecticut, RISE currently owns and operates two dispensaries: the Branford location, a Westport location, and the newly purchased Southern Wellness dispensary in Milford. The company also recently got approval from the city of Orange to open a location on the Post Road. As they work on renovations, Bodurtha says they are hoping for that location to be open around May of 2023.
“Many folks in the state and community don’t even know we are here, so we really don’t know what to expect from today. It really is all just about getting the word out. I think once people actually make a purchase, word of mouth will start going around,” Bodurtha said.