Jess Gould / XFM News
The Richmond Street building has been set up for the past six months, but locally owned cannabis store Cloud 29 has only now opened its doors amid pandemic setbacks.
As the pandemic provided trouble for many businesses, Cloud 29 owner Carol Sassine had also been affected.
“The pandemic absolutely has set everybody back. It’s also been extremely challenging for small business owners. We’re a small business, delays are obviously very difficult for small businesses. Because of the pandemic, we were probably set back around six months in opening because through COVID, we couldn’t get the inspections in the timely manner that we required whether that it was because of the AGCO or because of the city of London, all of those challenges we had to work through.”
The pandemic’s affect resulted in Sassine having to provide rent for her store that was not yet operating for half a year.
Jess Gould / XFM News
“It wasn’t fun, and it’s still not fun. I feel for all small business owners out there, that’s why you should always support small businesses. We’re here now and we’re grateful to be here, and we’re excited to show London we’re different than everybody else.”
With several other cannabis stores in the area, Sassine was prepared to think outside the box to create a unique experience amid London competition.
“I think there’s probably almost 60 stores now in London, so it is extremely competitive. We are downtown on Richmond Row, so we’re really confident about our location. We also did come into the industry understanding that it’s gonna be very competitive, and on that side of things knew that we had to come in a do things differently than everybody else was doing.”
Londoners are now able to have a shopping experience with emphasis on education and breaking stigmas about cannabis use.
The stigma of a cannabis store looking dark and shameful has been shut down as bright lights from the ceiling twinkle down amid the clouds.
“I wanted to make it a lot more personal here, which it is. It’s extremely one-on-one with your ‘bud tender’, education is a huge thing because cannabis is so new to a lot of people. The stigma of what cannabis used to be, and what it is now is completely different, and I want to make sure that we do our very best in educating people so that they understand exactly the benefits of incorporating cannabis into their lives.”
Jess Gould / XFM News
To educate and break down negative ideology with cannabis, Sassine is excited for the opportunity of elderly Londoners to feel welcomed into the shop.
“With the location that we have, we’re hopeful that we’ll see a great group of people because of that. The one thing that we really do want to try to put out there where people will hopefully come to travel to us is by introducing to the older generation that might see cannabis in a different way. Don’t get me wrong, there’s a lot of older people that love cannabis, but cannabis isn’t just about getting high anymore. There’s a lot of people who need to come into a store like ours where education is important so that they can learn about the products that are out there that may be able to help them with every day lifestyles and self care.”
In showing appreciation to Londoners for supporting the small cannabis business, a ‘Munchie Bar’ has also been set up for consumers to make one less stop on their way home.
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