The first legal retail cannabis store in Langford officially opened its doors on Saturday.
Clarity Cannabis opened its third store in Greater Victoria located at 693 Hoffman Ave., next to the Boston Pizza and West Shore RCMP detachment.
Serving as Clarity’s flagship location, the store has various displays with “sensory jars” so customers can see and smell samples of products as well as other merchandise like pipes and soon-to-come edibles.
Store manager Nicole Neeland said the opening was a success with a lineup of customers and swag bags handed out to the first 50 customers.
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“It’s been fantastic,” Neeland said. “Everybody’s super happy to have us finally…most people are going downtown to the Gorge location so they’re pretty stoked. Some of them walk here and it’s just short drive.”
Krystal Davies and Brahmjeet Singh arrived at the store around 10:30 a.m. for the grand opening. They said before the store opened in Langford, they drove to Victoria to make cannabis purchases.
“It’s nice to have somewhere local to go,” Davies said. “It’s very convenient…it’s nice to be closer rather than the whole commute there and back.”
Another customer, Kashmira Terry, moved to the West Shore a few months ago and said she visited cannabis dispensaries in Saskatchewan before moving to B.C. She hasn’t gone to any of the legal retailers in Victoria yet and was relying on cannabis that she purchased when she visited home.
Terry said she uses cannabis to help mitigate anxiety and depression and said it is convenient to have a place close to home where she can purchase it.
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“I don’t want to drive downtown,” Terry said.
A Victoria pharmacist, Michael Forbes, is the founder of Clarity Cannabis. He said he is excited to be part of the responsible distribution of cannabis to the public.
“Everybody is super excited to be here, working with the City of Langford has been fabulous,” Forbes said. “I’m a local resident here and I couldn’t be more happy to serve the community.”
There are two other Clarity Cannabis stores in Victoria and one in Dawson Creek with plans to open others in Kamloops, Cranbrook and Prince Rupert.
Four more legal retail cannabis stores are set to open in Langford, however dates for those stores have not been announced yet.
shalu.mehta@goldstreamgazette.com
