Depew, N.Y. (WBEN) - Another cannabis dispensary is opening up this week in Western New York. Herbal IQ on Transit Road in Depew is primed to open their doors for cannabis customers at 11 a.m. ET on Friday, making it the second recreational, state-regulated dispensary to start operations in Western New York.
Mike Ortiz, COO of Herbal IQ spoke with WBEN on Thursday as the construction team started finalizing the finishing touches to the shop. Ortiz says it's been a fast and focused effort getting everything ready for the big day as they are among the first to bring state-regulated, locally grown product to the retail space in Western New York.
"Of course, we're excited, right? It's a new venture, this is new in the area. So there is some excitement. At the same time, we still have to stay focused, we won't be really excited until we get through the first day and can breathe."
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Ortiz never thought that he'd see the day where he would be operating a state-regulated marijuana dispensary alongside his business partner and CEO, Bradley Kyler. But with Ortiz's expertise in real estate and insurance, coupled with Kyler's successful construction company, the hoops they had to jump through to make their dream a reality were a little easier compared to other license holders.
"Believe it or not, it [the process] was not that hard. It was rather easy to work with New York State it, was rather easy to work with the Village of Depew and the construction was rather easy," says Ortiz. "We've done work for the federal government, I worked with a lot of municipalities, we've done Army Corps of Engineer work, we've done municipal work. The paperwork process was fairly simple and straightforward for us. With the construction aspect, once we were able to procure the space, we utilized our own resources and our own men to completely gut the space floor to ceiling, wall-to-wall and turn it into what you see here today in approximately three weeks."
Ortiz expects a good-sized crowd for opening day as they are determined to serve their customers with all types of marijuana products as well as continue to expand and educate. Ortiz notes an area in the shop that he hopes will open soon in their dispensary that will specifically cater to senior citizens, especially those who can or could use cannabis for medicinal purposes.
"This way the older folks can go over there, get an education, spend some time learning what the different products are, their intended uses are and what the effects may be of that and build a culture that they're comfortable with. Like other people I've spoken to, my mom, she's 75 years old, she has back pain. I provided her with gummies. She loves them. She can now function, have a better quality of life. I want it to be an atmosphere that my own mother and grandmother would be comfortable coming into to have access to the product."
This could also potentially help the older generation squash the stigma they have about cannabis, as cannabis has constantly evolved and more has been discovered about specific strains and terpenes since the 1960s and 1970s.
"It's not full of all the chemicals and byproducts of the old days when guys were putting Miracle-Gro plants outside, we've moved way beyond that. It's very scientific, it's very proven out. We want to take that stigma away, give them a nice, clean, comfortable environment to choose if this is right for them."
As for what to expect come opening day, Ortiz says "expect a little chaos" but be patient, as they will try their best to serve and address everyone who walks through the door.
"There's almost 300 distributors and growers throughout New York State. We picked, what we feel, are the top five or six. We ran with those brands, you know, like the New Waves, the Heirlooms, the Bison Botanicals. We feel what we took what is the best of the best and we're going to work with them to establish a clientele for those products."
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