By Cam Lee/CJVR

Local pot shop stores move closer to opening day

Nov 5, 2018 | 9:39 AM

The smoke may be clearing a little when it comes to the opening of local cannabis outlets.

While there is no definite date in Melfort and Nipawin, there is now a ballpark time frame.

BC entrepreneur Jean Paul Lim said his Melfort location should open its doors fairly quickly.

“I am excited to open this retail shop sometime, I hope, in the later part of November to early December,” Lim said. “I am excited to work with the community and the local government to make sure that this is a positive experience for the entire community.”

The former Dataport Computer location in the 100 block of Burrows Ave. W. will house the shop, and is currently under renovation.

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Meanwhile, a soft opening date has been set for the location in Nipawin.

“We are expecting; we’ve been scheduling a Dec.15 opening date, but that’s been a floating date for us,” said Neil Sasakamoose, Board of Director for GreenTec Saskatchewan. He stressed supply continued to be an issue for pot retailers across parts of Canada, with Saskatchewan appearing to be no exception.

“Supply has been a struggle to say the least; I don’t know if there’s one cannabis store in Saskatchewan that has currently opened five days a week consistently since Oct. 17,” he said. Recreational cannabis has now been legal for nearly three weeks.

“We couldn’t open on Oct. 17 because we, like many other retailers in Saskatchewan, couldn’t find enough supply to open consistently” said Sasakamoose.

Meanwhile, he said work continued to make the Nipawin store a reality.

“We’ve been going through a bunch of compliance, when you go through the licensing process with [Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority], there’s a number of compliance issues, and we’ve been complying with them.” Sasakamoose said.

When construction and renovation on the property is started, he said they will be going through another set of compliance and reviews.

“Making sure our vault is constructed properly, that we have a proper P.O.S. (Point of Sale) system, that we are complying with all the rules with the town of Nipawin and the Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority” he said.

The cannabis retail store in Nipawin is located at the corner of First St. and First Ave.

Calls to pot shop proprietors in Tisdale and Humboldt had not yet been returned.

cam.lee@jpbg.ca