Marijuana shops keep opening in Fresno. Here’s everywhere you can now get legal weed

As a retail establishment, Haven Dispensary is designed to pass the grandma test.

As Johnnie Hernandez, the company’s president of retail, puts it:

”If my 83-year-old grandma wanted to, would she ever walk into one of my shops alone?”

He’s opened 11 shops across California since weed went recreational in 2016, mostly in the southern part of the state, but also in Porterville (opened in 2022) and now in Fresno.

Haven’s 2,400-square-foot storefront opened Wednesday, inside an abandoned Chinese restaurant on Belmont and Blackstone avenues that those of Hernandez’ grandma’s age will remember as once being a Bob’s Big Boy.

A large sign out front reads: “Haven. Your Neighborhood Dispensary.”

Inside, staff members greet guests as they enter.

“Welcome in.”

Where are Fresno’s 10 retail cannabis shops?

Fresno’s cannabis scene isn’t exploding exactly, but it is filling itself out.

Haven is the third dispensary to open this month alone. It’s the sixth to open this year and the 10th in Fresno since the city began approving retail cannabis licenses in 2021.

That number represents about half of the 21 licenses allowed by the city.

There is now at least one dispensary open in each of the Fresno’s seven council districts, though they remain largely grouped in the central part of the city. The Blackstone Corridor has become a sort of cannabis row, with three dispensaries situated within the half-mile between Gettysburg to Shaw avenues.

There is just one dispensary serving south Fresno and none on Fresno’s west side.

Which dispensaries are open?

For those who haven’t been following along, The Artist Tree and Embarc both opened on the same day in July 2022. One went into the Park Place Shopping Center on Palm Avenue in north Fresno. The other opened on the Blackstone corridor at Gettysburg Avenue.

They operated without competition until the Station opened on Shaw Avenue across from Fashion Fair Mall late last year.

Since then, two more dispensaries opened on Blackstone Avenue: Cookies at Blackstone and Shaw and Higher Level at Blackstone and Santa Ana.

Culture Cannabis Club opened a pair of shops in January: one on Bullard Avenue at Highway 41 and the other Maple and Jensen.

The Tower District got its long-awaited dispensary when Dr. Greenthumb’s opened earlier this month. Cypress Hill rapper B-Real was there for the ribbon-cutting.

The following week, Sweet Flower opened in a strip mall at Shields and Maroa just south of Fig Garden, becoming neighbors with El Premio Mayor taqueria.

Competition and culture

And at least two more dispensaries could be open with in the next month.

Banyan Tree Fresno hosted a pre-launch party earlier this month for its location on Sierra Avenue just off Blackstone near the DMV. It has a soft-opening on Monday and a grand-opening on May 4. The dispensary was one of the few social equity applicants to be awarded a license and has no corporate backers from outside the city.

“With the exception of a small grant and a small no interest loan from the city, all of our funding comes from the retirement accounts of two local families,” says Steve Spriggs, one of the dispensaries Founding Corporate Directors.

Embarc will launch its second Fresno location on May 1 in a converted 7-Eleven building at Shaw and West. A grand-opening celebration will happen May 4 and coincide with the opening of the dispensary’s Madera location (on Yosemite Avenue).

“We are thrilled to be opening these shops and are grateful for the opportunity to double down on our commitment within the City of Fresno and in the region,” says Embarc CEO Lauren Carpenter.

One might expect a dip in sales as the competition for legal weed expands, but Embarc hasn’t seen that so far.

Folks do tend to check out new stores, for the promise of deals and discounts, “but ultimately (and thankfully), our team has done a fantastic job of developing relationships with residents from across the city and the region,” she says.

The store has also developed a collaborative working relationship with The Artist Tree, “to ensure we are collectively putting our best foot forward in the community,” Carpenter says.

“My hope is that as these additional stores are finally coming online, Fresnans continue to see that cannabis retail can operate responsibly and seamlessly within the community.”

More dispensaries could mean a decline in each individual store’s customer count, says The Arist Tree cofounder Lauren Fontein. But competition can also be beneficial.

“We know that customers like to have options and will likely shop at several different dispensaries in the city, depending on what they’re looking for and what part of town they’re in on any given day,” she says.

“Just like with non-cannabis retail locations.”

Having a variety of cannabis retail destinations helps normalize cannabis culture.

“We’re excited to see the cannabis industry continue to grow in Fresno and each new operator’s unique spin on cannabis sales,” Fontein says.

Haven’s spot in Fresno cannabis culture

For Haven, there’s a focus on building loyalty among customers. The store has an incentive program where purchases earn points that can be redeemed for all kind of goodies, from rolling papers or a lighter, to entertainment packages, or even a trip to Mexico.

But that’s all once customers have come into the store.

Inside, the Haven showroom is bright, open and welcoming.

The store offers baskets at the door and has all of its items (even those that must be kept locked in glass cases) unboxed and visible to customers. Product can be seen behind glass counters; the vapes, pre-rolls and flower buds laid out by price point and available in bulk. One wall is dedicated to edibles and broken down by food type (gummies, chocolates and baked goods).

This is a safe place, where customers are encouraged to ask questions, says Jenny Venegas, Haven’s district sales manager.

Fresno is still a relatively new retail market, she says. And while many customers are comfortable buying legal weed through delivery services, they are still not used to what it’s like to shop in a cannabis store, she says.

“They’re still learning.”