Hundreds of people lined up outside The Hunny Pot all week after Ontario’s first brick and mortar cannabis stores opened across the province on April 1.
Excited customers have filled the store since it opened this past Monday. A dedicated team awaits a customer’s arrival, ready to help with whatever their cannabis needs are. Upon entering the doors, a sleek white layout with merchandise spread out over three floors welcomes both the curious and the regular weed lovers.
Members of staff and customers on The Hunny Pot’s third floor. April 2, 2019 (ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ / TORONTO OBSERVER)
Arondeep Sidhu, who works as a security guard at The Hunny Pot, said that since the store opened, people have been waiting in line for up to an hour just to see what there is to offer.
The store has a wide variety of products, with more than 35 types of cannabis, which also includes flowers and oils. There are also accessories for sale like pipes, bongs, grinders, rolling papers, and even a $1,000 vaporizer.
Bud baristas helping customers on the second floor of The Hunny Pot. April 2, 2019 (ALEXANDER RODRIGUEZ /TORONTO OBSERVER)
As soon as customers arrive, they’re assigned to a Hunny Pot “bud barista” who will help them with any questions they may have.
Customer Matt Wright described the store as an “interesting” experience, and particularly appreciated having someone giving personal assistance immediately.
He said the products inside the store were much better than the product that people can find on the streets.
North Star CBD sativa-dominant at The Hunny Pot, Toronto, April 2, 2019. (Alexander Rodriguez/Toronto Observer)
Most of the prices at The Hunny Pot are the same as offered on the government’s Ontario Cannabis Store website.
Ten dollars will get you one gram of flower, which includes strains of Houndstooth, Pink Kush, and Great White Shark. If you have some extra money kicking around, Tangerine Dream will set you back $142.85 per gram.
For those who lack the skill of rolling, you can buy pre-rolled joints. Prices begin at six dollars for a single joint, and a pack goes for $61.22.
“It gives me peace of mind knowing that I can walk into a store, and buy weed legally with no fear of persecution,” Alejandro Davila said Tuesday in an interview at The Hunny Pot with The Toronto Observer.
The opening of The Hunny Pot store has also caught the interest of local restaurants and businesses as they anticipate the impact the store will have on them.
Fazal Memon is an employee at the Burger Factory just across the street, at 265 Queen St. W. He is ready for all the consequences that come with the opening of the new weed store whether it’s good or bad for business.
“Maybe positive, maybe negative, because on weekends we are open until 4 a.m so the people who smoke weed and come into our store may be like a nuisance for us,” he said.
Fazal also pointed out that the streets around the store are now busier, giving him more hope that it will drive more business inside.
“Yesterday, it looked like 200 customers standing by the dispensary, and today (Wednesday) I came in to work and about 70 people were standing outside again so I hope it is a positive change.”
Since marijuana’s legalization in October 2018, many Canadians have been waiting for the day they could buy cannabis in stores. The store have seems to have become somewhat of a tourist attraction for foreigners, even if they are not interested in buying the actual product itself.
Kaan Unver is a Turkish international student in Toronto. He said he doesn’t smoke cannabis but took the time to stop by the new store with his friends and see what the buzz was about.
Kaan found the experience so amazing that he even blogged about it for his YouTube channel.
“Its our first time here, we are very excited, we came for an experience, we don’t smoke but we wanted to look,” he said.