John SchroyerAt least three Vermont stores will have adult-use cannabis sales beginning on Oct. 1: CeresMED in Burlington, Mountain Girl Cannabis in Rutland and FLORA in Middlebury. Several more retailers are expected to quickly follow.
According to a news release from SLANG Worldwide (CNSX: SLNG) (OTCQB: SLGWF), its subsidiary CeresMED will launch recreational marijuana sales at its 190 College Street location on Oct. 1.
And VT Digger reported that both Mountain Girl Cannabis in Rutland and FLORA Cannabis in Middlebury are also slated to launch sales on Saturday.
The Oct. 1 launch will see SLANG’s fourth cannabis shop in the state go live, along with its three medical dispensaries in South Burlington, Middlebury and Brattleboro, which it acquired last year when it bought Hi Fidelity, which runs the Ceres Collaborative cannabis group.
Vermont is the 15th U.S. state marijuana market that SLANG has entered so far, according to the release.
The trio may be the first to open, but they won’t be the last. Other stores plan on launching as soon as they can get their affairs in order, the Burlington Free Press reported.
Burlington retailers Bern Gallery, Green State Gardener, Green Leaf Central and Grass Queen all hope to open in coming weeks or months. Magic Mann in Essex is aiming for October still, the Free Press reported.
On Wednesday, the Vermont Cannabis Control Board awarded 13 new permits for 10 additional growers, two manufacturers and a lone retailer: Bud Barn in Brattleboro, which VT Digger reported may be open by Oct. 17.
In addition, the new market is attracting out-of-state interest from companies such as Massachusetts-based Theory Wellness, which said in a press release Thursday that it plans to enter the market in Brattleboro as well.
Though Theory’s location is still under construction and an opening date hasn’t been announced, the company said it expects to open this autumn.
