New Vansterdam in Vancouver is among the Washington dispensaries competing with the newly legal recreational cannabis market in Oregon
Oregon recreational sales pulled in $11mm in the first week, but several dispensaries in Vancouver, Washington, which is near the border, were negatively impacted as they cut prices in response to the new competition. While stores like The Herbery, Main Street Marijuana and New Vansterdam saw sales decline, they are hopeful that changes in the medical dispensary rules that take effect in July in Washington will work in their favor.
Jim Mullen, COO of The Herbery, said:
“We really think there’s a huge medical market out there. There’s no real data on how many customers are in the medical market or the black market. But we think next year, when the city, county and state put more pressure on only allowing legitimate medical dispensaries to stay open, we will have a lot more customers looking to us to provide medicine.”
Read Sue Vorenberg’s “Oregon pot legalization siphons customers from Vancouver shops”: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/blog/health-care-inc/2015/10/oregon-pot-legalization-siphons-customers-from.html