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First cannabis retailer in Keremeos doing brisk business

A few shortages due to underestimating demand are behind them
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Quantum 1’s Keremeos shop has been doing a brisk business as the only cannabis retailer in the Similkameen so far. (Contributed)

By Brennan Phillips

Keremeos Review Staff

Three months in and Quantum 1 in Keremeos has worked its way through the logistical hurdles of a new business.

The store is the first, and so far only, cannabis retailer in the Similkameen, and business has been brisk.

“We underestimated the amount of people who would come through the store so quickly,” said Dave Holender, director of strategy for Quantum 1’s parent company Quizam Media Corporation.

“At the beginning, we were going through a bit of growing pains, figuring out who was going to come, what they were going to want. We ran into a few shortages, but we’re past that now.”

The initial shortages, Holender said, were partly due to the quality control the business insists on for their product, as well as figuring out what products their customers wanted most.

“We know people were going to the grey market, and we wanted to give people a safer, cleaner option for purchasing cannabis,” said Holender. “A big thing is we’re always trying to order as little as possible, to constantly order fresher better product. It took us a bit to find the sweet spot.”

As the only retailer in the region, many of the customers are from Keremeos and neighbouring communities.

“We have a lot of people from Keremeos that don’t want to travel to Penticton. A lot of the locals are a lot of the regulars,” said Holender.

During the initial phase of the business, there was some community concern over the store’s location and proposed hours. Since they’ve been open, Holender said there haven’t been any issues, adding that neighbouring businesses and residents have been very supportive, with the skate shop down the road even lending them tools.

“Business is great, it’s better than we had expected. We thought it would be slower than it was,” said Holender. “Right from the get-go, we were hopping.”

Quantum 1 in Keremeos is one of several stores in the Okanagan and Similkameen, with one open in Grand Forks, and openings planned for Vernon and Creston.

To report a typo, email: editor@keremeosreview.com.

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