‘Glad to be open’: Saskabuds Cannabis officially opens in Melfort

The history behind Melfort’s cannabis shop can be a bit of a confusing one. The first licensee was set to open under the name “Hive Cannabis”, but that never came to fruition. The Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority told northeastNOW at the time the original licensee withdrew his application.

Bacon was the second licensee, and decided to use the same location on Burrows Ave West in Melfort. There were a few code violations that needed to be cleaned up, pushing back the timeline to get the shop open. However, things finally came together for Bacon, even if it was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I am quite pleased that [the provincial government] did deem us essential,” Bacon told northeastNOW. “A lot of the customer base that’s come in here to date, a large percentage is looking for CBD oil for self-care.”

While Bacon and his staff are not allowed to talk about any medical benefits of cannabis, they also have strict restrictions for advertising. Bacon said that he hopes word of mouth helps get their name out into the community.

With the current pandemic, Bacon said the lack of drive by traffic is a bit of a worry.

“Biggest concern is with the lack of traffic is how it’s going to affect our sales to start,” he said. “Right now i’ve been running with almost a full staff, and hopefully we do well enough that we don’t have to cut staff.”

He added they’ve had to adjust during the current times by adjusting some hours and having a senior’s hour earlier in the day, as a large deal of stores in the area are doing, and they’re being extra careful with cleaning and safety.

“I’d like our customers to be assured that we’ve got measures in place for COVID-19 to protect our staff, customers, and the general public, we have that information posted in store,” Bacon said. “So, not to be concerned about that, we are taking full precautions to best protect everybody.”

There were a few empty cases in the store, which Bacon acknowledged. Those current empty cases would hold glassware such as pipes, but Bacon said he has put a hold on some of those shipments as they do not come from within Canada. On the other side, he said they have plenty of stock in some other products like flowers, about 70 different products, according to Bacon. He’s also got shipments of edibles in the coming weeks.

Bacon said he’s put a hold on some of his shipments of glass products from outside of Canada due to COVID-19. (Mat Barrett/northeastNOW Staff)

Bacon said he wants to promote locally, and by doing so he is selling product that has been grown in places such as Nipawin and Macklin among others.

As for the name “Saskabuds Cannabis,” Bacon said it stemmed from himself, his wife, and their business partner. He said after the other business partner’s life circumstances changed, he had to step out but Bacon wanted it to relate to Saskatchewan, and friends.

“I’m in this venture with my wife, my best friend,” he said. “So I guess Saskatchewan, and ‘buds’ is where it was born from.”

Bacon said he hopes to get a website up and running soon, as well as some social media pages, and if the demand is there he’d like to get delivery up and running.

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6

by Mat Barrett

‘Glad to be open’: Saskabuds Cannabis officially opens in Melfort

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