Two new cannabis dispensaries open, bringing Fresno to six pot shops. Are any near you?
Culture Cannabis Club had a good run in 2023.
The marijuana dispensary chain expanded its reach across the country, but mostly in California, where it opened five new stores, including one in Porterville.
The company continued that expansion into the new year, opening two more dispensaries over the first weeks of 2024.
Both are in Fresno.
The shops — on Bullard Avenue at Highway 41 and at Maple and Jensen avenues — are currently in a soft-opening phase.
Grand opening celebrations are planned for sometime in February.
“We were interested in pursuing Fresno for a long time,” CEO Devon Julian says. “It’s great to be part of such a big metropolitan area.”
“We’ve been really happy with the partnership,” which includes local owners Barigye McCoy and Jas Kahlon.
McCoy is a native. He grew up in Fresno and graduated from Edison High School. His background is in retail development, but he’s been an advocate for legalized marijuana since California passed SB 420 in 2003.
Along with ownership in the Fresno stores, he’s the Chief of Communications for Culture Cannabis Club.
Kahlon’s family owns several gas stations in Fresno and recently started the Fresno-based cannabis brand Cavalier Private Reserve as a Culture Cannabis Club exclusive.
Culture Cannabis shops open in north, southeast Fresno
The two stores are nearly identical in layout, design and function.
Digital interfaces built into the shelving allow customers to pull up a full slate of information on any product, though they can also get help from in-store cannabis consultants. These aren’t just bud tenders, Julian says.
The stores carry known brands like Stiiizy and Fig Farms, but will also bring in newer brands and products on a rotating basis each month.
There is a focus on brands that have been able to make the leap from the black market, says Jordan Quintana, the manger of the Bullard Avenue store.
Some of the product lines are exclusives in Fresno, he says.
Both stores have flower and vapes from Cavalier Private Reserve.
The Bullard Avenue store carries tier-one level extracts from Trilogy 710, which isn’t offered anywhere within 170 miles, Quintana says.
“That’s our goal: to have some unique stuff,” he says.
Who’s next?
The number of dispensaries in Fresno has tripled the past three months.
Embarc and The Artist Tree had been operating as the city’s only dispensaries for more than a year, until The Station opened on Shaw Avenue across from Fashion Fair Mall in November. Cookies followed a month later with a blow-out grand opening for its branded retail store.
It included a visit from the company’s celebrity CEO.
Culture Cannabis Club expands the footprint of legal cannabis in the city.
It is the first dispensary in south Fresno, something that was important to McCoy and Kahlon, both of whom have deep connections to the area, especially Calwa.
“We put a lot of time into picking out the locations,” Kahlon says.
The city allows for 21 retails dispensaries: three in each of the seven council districts. There are now dispensaries open in four of those districts.
There are no dispensaries yet in District 1, which includes west Fresno and parts of the Tower District. It’s the same for District 3, which includes southwest Fresno and downtown, and District 7, which includes central Fresno east to Clovis.
It’s questionable as to when another dispensary might open.
According to the city, three of the license holders are in the construction phase. That likely includes Dr. Green Thumbs, the dispensary from Cypress Hill rapper B-Real, which is set to open inside the old Bank of America Building on Wishon Avenue in the Tower District.
Another six business are working on securing building permits, the city says. Three more are working on Condition Use Permit compliance and one is still waiting on CUP approval.
Two licenses remain unrewarded, after being appealed by the city Council.
