Cannabis retailers are getting ready for a bump in sales due to the holiday season and tourism.
Parker Rice, owner of Rimeline Cannabis in Rawsonville, and his staff anticipate a busier five-day stretch for the Thanksgiving holiday. His shop is in the same building as the snowboard shop Mtn. Riders and opened in September.
“We look forward to seeing new faces in the store as the second home owner community of Stratton and Bromley return for the winter,” Rice said.
Additional items have been brought in at Rimeline Cannabis for the holiday week. Rice said his team looks forward to learning more about what their customers would like to see in the new store.
“Whenever tourists come to the area, we do more business so I believe we will have a good weekend and holiday season in general,” said Scott Sparks, owner of Vermont Bud Barn in Brattleboro.
With intended humor, staff at Vermont Bud Barn are suggesting cannabis may help to relieve family stress at the dinner table.
“If everyone in attendance was in agreement, maybe some infused food or beverages might be interesting,” Sparks said. “I would never recommend doing this to unsuspecting guests or children. This idea is strictly for consenting adults over 21 only.”
Matty Horn, co-owner of Matterhorn Apothecary in Wilmington, said he “absolutely” expects to have a bump in sales.
“We’re excited about it,” he said. “This summer and actually fall, we did great. We had quite a good local turnout. We have a good following in town. We stayed strong through the stick season. We’re excited to get back to some busy hustle and bustle.”
Mount Snow announced Monday it would be opening on Thanksgiving. Horn said his team knows it’s the start of winter once the ski resort opens.
Matterhorn Apothecary is offering specials this week for Green Wednesday, “Danksgiving” and Black Friday. Horn said he will be dressing the big skeleton, posted outside the shop during Halloween, as Santa for Christmas.
Family-friendly gatherings will be held outside where there’s a smokeless firepit. S’mores and hot chocolate will be provided during the winter solstice.
“This is our first full winter that we’re going through because we opened Feb. 18,” Horn said. “We’re excited to see the Christmas week, New Year’s crowd. The staff is ready. We’re excited.”
Horn said he’s “bulking up” his orders to ensure there’s enough product to meet the demand. He also designed another run of seasonal pre-roll tins for the winter season.
Karen Devereux, co-owner of Kingdom Kind in Barton, said her family is always hopeful they will be busy through the holidays. They’ve seen customers come in for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day gifts, birthdays, and other celebrations, so they hope Christmas will be even bigger and better.
If Devereux was working behind the counter during the holidays, she said she would likely be encouraging people to purchase whatever works for them to relieve some of the stress of the season.
“The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas is busy, and people need to take care of themselves and do what they can to keep things festive while also finding those perfect gifts for others,” she said.
Kingdom Kind is working on some fun ideas for Christmas gifts. In addition to the store’s usual flower, concentrates, oils and edibles, it has some packages planned for ornament ideas, branded hats and shirts, Rabble-Rouser Chocolate, Haze glass creations, locally made wooden pipes and gnome figures.
Martha Bruhl, owner of the Middlebury-based cannabis edible company Fog Valley Farm, also is hopeful for an uptick in sales this holiday season.
“Fresh baked cookies are a great selling point this time of year,” she said. “Who doesn’t love a good holiday cookie, especially one that is infused?”
Bruhl launched her company last year at the holiday season. She said she needs a few more years to figure out whether to expect more sales during the holidays.
Fog Valley Farm hit a bump in the road in the form of recent rule changes prohibiting cannabis-infused products requiring refrigeration.
“It almost feels like year one again as we just released BAKED, our ready to eat cookie line, in August,” Bruhl said. “Hopefully a few more seasons of sales data can indicate whether or not a spike happens this time of year.”
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