Cheeba Chews and Pineapple Kush now are part of Durango’s historic Main Avenue.
After a long gestation, Acceptus Group has opened a retail marijuana shop at 965½ Main Ave. The business, branded as Colorado Grow Co., is the first pot shop with a storefront on downtown Main Avenue.
With the arrival of a retail marijuana storefront on downtown Durango’s main thoroughfare, a landmark has arrived in Durango’s evolving experience with legal marijuana.
Others are nearby: Santé Alternative Wellness has a Main Avenue address, but the location at 742 Main Ave. is in an alley tucked behind Main Avenue. Animas Herbal Wellness Center is only a few blocks away at 1111 Camino del Rio.
“The advantage is the foot traffic – you know, location, location, location,” said Jason Barker, who owns Colorado Grow with Adam Gifford.
Colorado Grow Co. is on the second floor above The Jewelry Works and next door to a Subway. The location was coveted by the business’s competitors, but Barker was first in line to apply for a retail marijuana location when the city of Durango ended its moratorium on applications July 1.
Barker and Gifford closed their medical marijuana dispensary at 555 Rivergate Lane after it was hurt by construction on Colorado Highway 3 and at the Rivergate complex, Barker said. The Main Avenue retail store opened Friday.
“It was just a business decision,” Barker said. “We lost a lot of patients when the construction started over there.”
Marijuana typically is cheaper at medical dispensaries than at retail shops because of an additional state tax levied on retail marijuana.
To compensate, Colorado Grow Co. offers a 20 percent discount to medical-marijuana card holders. Local residents also get a 20 percent discount.
Colorado Grow Co.’s downtown location drew several public comments in opposition last year. In one representative comment, David McAlvany of McAlvany Wealth Management, 858 Main Ave., said, “I’m of the opinion that the retail sale of marijuana on Main Avenue would add a dimension that would detract from the existing downtown atmosphere.”
But Barker said neighbors have welcomed the store’s opening.
The building at 965½ Main Ave. is owned by Denise L. Elliott and William Whitney.
Colorado Grow Co. is open 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.
cslothower@durangoherald.com
