By Brady Bateman

Prairie Cannabis now open to the public

Dec 19, 2018 | 1:01 PM

Prince Albert’s first retail cannabis outlet is now open to the public, two months after marijuana became legal in Canada.

Prairie Cannabis, located at 180 17 St. W., opened its doors today with what they call a “soft launch” in anticipation of a grand opening on Dec. 31. As it was a soft launch, media were asked not to record or take photos inside the store. 

A small crowd gathered shortly before the doors to Prairie Cannabis opened Wednesday, with a longer line forming in the minutes after opening. Within 30 minutes of the doors opening, roughly 30 to 40 people had come to see what the store had to offer.

Store owner Jim Southam told paNOW he was excited for the long-awaited opening and said he was honoured to be selected to run a store in Prince Albert.

“This is our soft opening for the store, we seem to be fairly steady with customers already,” said Southam. “We wanted to do a soft opening just because the store isn’t 100 per cent complete yet, and we just want to give myself and the employees a chance to learn the store and become familiar with the operations in the store.”

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Southam noted that he sees the opening of Prairie Cannabis as an important day for Prince Albert following legalization.

“We just want everyone to know we’re open for business and we look forward to serving the customers as best we can.”

Customers such as Robynn Lafond were eager to get in line to purchase cannabis from Prince Albert’s first retailer.

“It’s actually really nice, the customer service was great,” said Lafond. “They have a lot of stuff in the store, it was just really nice.”

The store will be running on modified hours, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., until Dec. 24. Regular hours will commence on Dec. 31, running from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Prince Albert was granted two licenses for cannabis retailers. Canaba Cannabis is expected to have an update on their plans early in the new year.

Brady.bateman@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @TheDigitalBirdy