HOLLY HILL — VidaCann, one of 13 medical marijuana licenses allowed in Florida, is opening its first store in the small city of Holly Hill, becoming the third dispensary in Volusia County.
It joins two companies that have already found homes in Volusia County. Surterra Wellness opened a Deltona storefront in March and Trulieve came into Edgewater last year.
But VidaCann’s Nova Road store is the first on the heavily-trafficked eastside of the county, sitting between Ormond Beach and Daytona Beach.
With 14 other locations in the pipeline, the 2,000-square-foot dispensary is a part of the company’s effort to quickly scale up its business by establishing brick-and-mortar locations across the state.
Nothing about its position was a mistake, said Karim Bouaziz, a vice president who oversees dispensaries for the Jacksonville-based company.
“In this case, we tried to be central between Interstate 95 and the beach,” Bouaziz said. “In small markets we’ll take the Waffle House model and be near the interstate and in big markets we’ll try and be in the middle.”
Bouaziz said they’re still finding some local governments are skeptical of the idea of a dispensary setting up shop in their town or city. But instead of fighting with them, he said the company just moves to a neighboring city.
Florida’s legalized medical marijuana system is expected to grow into a $21.8 billion industry by 2020, according to the market research firm the Arcview Group.
The limited number of license holders will form a significant foundation in the state as they are the only entities allowed to participate. Each of the 13 licensed marijuana treatment providers can now open up to 30 retail locations.
More than 100,000 people have joined Florida’s patient registry and dispensary owners are looking for ways to reach as many of them as possible with every location.
Although Holly Hill placed a moratorium on the facilities at first, the city council chose not to renew it and later welcomed VidaCann with open arms. The dispensary is housed in strip center where a roofing company once was and their neighbors include the Koffee Kup Restaurant and a Hertz rental car.
“I compared it to going to an Apple store. They’re thinking Cheech and Chong in a headshop,” said Nick Conte, an economic development coordinator for the city of Holly Hill. “That’s not what this is. They’re thinking recreational. This is medical.”
In an attempt to hit every major metropolitan area, and then some, VidaCann will open stores in Jacksonville, Tallahassee, Gainesville, Orlando, Palm Bay, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Miami, Tampa, Pensacola, Bradenton and Deerfield Beach.
VidaCann’s waiting room is clean and modern and patients will be escorted behind a door to complete their purchase.The company will only offer tinctures and capsules at first, Bouaziz said, but more products will be available soon.
Six people were hired to staff the store after the company received more than 700 applications.
Sean Yereance, the Holly Hill dispensary manager, was one of them. A former manager at a local retail home improvement chain, Yearance said he felt it was time for a change.
“Something about it turned me on,” he said. But in many ways rules about customer service (still) apply.
“We are in that pharmaceutical slash retail environment so you’ve got to have people that know the product,” Yereance said, “and people that are going to be good with customers and good with patients.”