When Cultivate opened for recreational marijuana sales in Leicester in November 2018, it was a historic moment. The first legal pot sales on the East Coast drew hordes of consumers and people waited in line for hours on end.
Now, Cultivate’s second grand opening is another historic moment, but this time, one without crowds of customers and lengthy lines. The company has launched a dispensary in Framingham, selling both recreational and medical marijuana, in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The shop opened Thursday at 250 Worcester Road on Route 9 East.
“While we are of course proud to be opening our second location, opening in the time of a pandemic is something we take very seriously. We have implemented a heightened disinfection and deep cleaning program, above and beyond what is required,” said Evan Pierce, the Cultivate Framingham general manager. “We also have security and police details in place for the first week of operation to make sure everything runs seamlessly.”
Cultivate, like other marijuana businesses and like other industries, laid off workers during the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Charlie Baker in March deemed adult-use marijuana non-essential business, which meant stores were shuttered as the state worked to slow the spread of the virus. Shops ended up staying closed for two months before reopening in Phase 1 in late May. Medical marijuana treatment centers were allowed to operate through the pandemic.
As of Friday, Cultivate is back up to its pre-pandemic amount of 100 employees in Leicester, according to spokeswoman Francy Wade. Thirty employees have been hired for the Framingham location, almost all of them new to Cultivate.
Cultivate made history with NETA in Northampton, opening on the same day in 2018 for the first recreational marijuana sales in Massachusetts. Before offering adult-use marijuana, Cultivate was open in Leicester for medical sales.
Cultivate has been in the process of opening its Framingham store since at least 2018. The company received its commence operations notice from the Cannabis Control Commission on June 17.
Lianne Whalen, the executive chef at Cultivate Holdings, a marijuana shop in Leicester, leads a kitchen with about nine employees as of February 2020.
Cultivate was planning the design of its Framingham location, which was abandoned and formerly home to the Taqueria Mexico restaurant, long before the pandemic arrived in Massachusetts.
Now opening as the coronavirus lingers, but spreads less rapidly in Massachusetts, Cultivate has added transparent barriers to add a level of protection between customers and employees.
The number of employees and customers allowed in the store at one time is limited and monitored. Additionally, all employees and customers must wear masks in the store, Wade said, and must adhere to social distancing protocols.
Before coming to the store, customers must reserve a window of time to come in and shop, Wade said.
“During this very difficult time we are proud to be creating jobs, economic activity and significant tax revenue for the city of Framingham,” said Sam Barber, president of Cultivate. “We are taking every precaution to make sure working and visiting our store is a safe, sanitary, and stress-free experience.”
Cultivate hopes to open another location at 1023 Southbridge St. in Worcester later this year.
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