The long-awaited retail cannabis store Kiaro opened its doors in La Ronge Friday with about 60 people visiting the location in the first hour of operation.
The store, which boasts a warm yet minimalist design, offers a variety of dried cannabis flowers, pre-rolled products, oils, capsules and other accessories.
Accessories include stylish pipes, rolling trays, ashtrays and bongs – all Canadian handmade in clay, wood, ceramic and marble.
The company’s e-commerce platform offers four ordering stations with touch screen computers for online shopping.
“When you look at the opportunity to educate, inform and empower people, you know that people are hungry for this, people are curious,” Kiaro Senior Vice-President Andrew Gordon says. “They really want to find out what cannabis can offer them in terms of enhancing their enjoyment of life.”
Gordon adds Kiaro’s team of experts are happy to educate anybody on how their products can add value to the community, whether they are cannabis users or not.
Education is part of the company’s plan to destigmatize negativity surrounding cannabis use.
Kiaro also commits to not only educating people about their products but also about various regulations surrounding legal cannabis use including age restrictions, safe transportation and possession limits.
“We’ve hired locally, we’ve sourced locally, and I think we really have developed something that reflects the local tastes and interest,” Gordon says.
Two of the interior walls showcase buds on the ‘bud wall’ allowing guests to not only look at but also smell the product.
Kiaro is also working with local artists to display art that it says reflects the working partnership between the northern community and store.
The cannabis retailer, which also has an outlet in Saskatoon, says it is committed to involvement in the local community which includes the Patterson Park Improvement Project.
“Our design element is really all about helping people stand up and stand out and to enjoy their life more,” Gordon says. “I think we really hit it out of the park here in La Ronge.”
The store is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. until 8 p.m.