Brian Mandell, owner of The Firehaus Dispensary in the former Olympia Sports store, gets ready to open his doors to customers Wednesday afternoon. NCTW photo by Adam Atkinson.
BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week
POTSDAM — The second cannabis dispensary in the town of Potsdam has opened in the former Olympia Sports store in the Tractor Supply shopping complex off Route 11.
The Firehaus Dispensary opened today (Wednesday, Dec. 13) at 7479 U.S. Route 11. and before the newest cannabis store in town welcomed its first customers at 1 p.m., owner Brian Mandell was busy organizing employees, taking inventory and getting things ready.
“We are hoping it’s real busy. That it gets too busy,” Mandell joked before the store opened its doors to customers.
“People have been pulling up all day to ask when we would be open,” said the dispensary owner, a North Country native who built a business selling rare and hard-to-find shoes.
The Firehaus will be the first adult-use cannabis dispensary supported by the New York Cannabis Social Equity Investment Fund and designed and built with the help of the Dormitory Authority of New York State under a process laid out by state Office of Cannabis Management.
The fund provides start up cash, and other business resources for entrepreneurs who have been awarded Conditional Adult-Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licenses through the OCM. To be eligible for a CAURD license, at least 30 percent of the license holders must have been previously convicted of a marijuana offense.
“This initiative has allowed the state to invest in a private fund to finance the leasing and equipping of conditional adult-use retail dispensaries throughout New York State for operation by individuals who have been impacted by the inequitable enforcement of cannabis laws. It is the first of its kind in the nation,” said Jeffrey Gordon, DASNY director of communications.
Mandell said he originally had set an opening date of Aug. 17 and then another in September….
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