Update on the Apothecarium and Adult-Use Cannabis Sales

The State recently gave approval for about a dozen existing medical cannabis dispensaries to begin selling to adult-use customers. (For more on what is Adult Use, see the attached FAQ from the Apothecarium.)

The Apothecarium at 1865 Springfield Avenue near Yale Street could begin selling adult-use cannabis as soon as Thursday, April 21. In preparation for expected crowds, the Apothercarium, the Township, and Springfield Avenue Partnership met to discuss the opening and review the operations plan.

Below, please see a letter from the Apothercarium describing the operations plan and crowd management. Please to reach out to Michelle Moleski and Jamie Nash--contacts below--with any questions.

Also to note, they are using a virtual line system and will encourage customers to visit neighboring businesses while waiting their turn. I'd love to hear any feedback about customer traffic to your businesses.

Best,

Nicole

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Dear Springfield Avenue Neighbor,

 

The Apothecarium Dispensary is excited to share our adult use cannabis conversion plans with all our neighboring businesses along the Springfield Ave corridor.  As you know, we are currently a medical dispensary, but as early as next week, our dispensary will service both medical cannabis patients and adult-use (recreational 21+) customers.  We have taken a thoughtful and through approach to our preparations, keeping in mind customer and employee parking, exterior crowd control, pedestrian safety, and customer flow. Our goal is to ensure the least disruption to our community and neighboring local businesses, while increasing foot traffic to all businesses along the Springfield Avenue corridor.  

 

Customer & Employee Parking

  • 3 municipal parking lots within a short radius of our store for customer parking

  • Dedicated patient parking in the lot adjacent to Apothecarium

  • Employee and Patient overflow parking will be on Hilton Avenue between Indiana and Prospect

  • Each shift will be 25-30 employees

 

Exterior Crowd Control & Pedestrian Crossing

  • We will utilize empty the blacktop on Springfield Avenue and Yale Street (Yale Corner) for the waiting area

  • Once a customer parks, they will be greeted by our line control staff on Yale Street.

  • We will be utilizing a virtual waitlist app encouraging them to visit and shop our neighboring businesses.

  • In the waiting line area, we will have portable restrooms, waste, and recycle receptacles, and stanchions signs that note “No Smoking Cannabis or Cigarettes on Public Sidewalks & Places”.

  • Since Pedestrian safety is a top priority, we will be working with the Maplewood Police department to hire off duty officers to facilitate safe crossings.

 

Flow before entering the building

  • To facilitate a smooth and safe line flow, we will greet those crossing from the Yale Street waiting area to line up on the exterior of our building.

  • Our goal is to minimize sidewalk congestion, but offer shaded covering for our customers

  • Our line controllers will verify those in line against the virtual waitlist app and verify that they are 21 and older before entering our lobby

  • In the adjacent parking lot next to our building, we will have Patient Only Parking A-frames on the parking lot gravel, waste and recycle receptacles, and “No Consumption on site” signs posted.

  • We will also have un-armed security throughout the exterior and interior building to ensure patient, customer, and employee safety.

 

Interior Patient & Customer Flow

  • We expect to service 500 – 750 total customers per day during the first few weeks of adult use sales

  • Our hours of operation are Monday through Saturday 8am to 7pm and 12pm – 6pm on Sunday.

  • We will offer patient only hours, 4 days a week (Sun-Wed 8am – 11:30am)

 

Community Outreach & Engagement

  • Our Outreach team will be out and about along Springfield Ave on Tuesday, April 19.

  • Michelle Moleski and Jamie Nash are the Community Outreach Contacts for the Apothecarium. Please reach out to them if you would like them to stop by your business to answer any questions on April 19th. Here are Jamie and Michelle’s contact info:

  • We are working on some local first initiatives that will highlight health and wellness businesses, as well as local eateries to help drive foot traffic to neighboring businesses along Springfield Ave.

  • The Community Outreach team is also excited to hear about your ideas for co-promotion and partnerships, so please contact Jamie and Michelle to discuss!

 

Please do not hesitate to reach out to the Apothecarium’s Community Outreach team with any questions or concerns about any of the plans for NJ Adult Use conversion outlined above.  I have also attached FAQ for your reference.

We look forward to a very exciting and successful launch that will benefit the entire Maplewood community.

 

Sincerely,

The Apothecarium Team

Dani Geracicannabis, apothecarium