The first cannabis dispensary is coming to Guadalupe, which is allowing two dispensaries to open in the city.
SLOCAL Management, LLC has been chosen as the first business to open up shop in the city of about 8,000 people.
The Root One dispensary will be located in what is currently an art gallery at 928 Guadalupe St. The building will see significant changes in the coming months.
"We're kind of going to go for a surf shop record store kind of vibe," said Austen Connella, Owner of SLOCAL Roots. "We'll have a secured entry, there will be a central island and point of sale systems."
The building is located in the heart of town on Highway 1--next to restaurants, a bank, and other businesses.
"It will cause a little more economic diversity in the community," said Guadalupe City Administrator Todd Bodem. "As some of the councilmembers said, it's not the golden goose economically, but it's a piece of how we will establish a more sustainable community."
It all started with a chance encounter with the owner of the building who was looking to sell his struggling gallery.
"I've known these guys a couple of years now," said Mike Ritter who is selling the property. "It's kind of funny, they just came over here and asked me that if they got a building nearby, could they use my parking lot and I said yeah, you can use my parking lot but why don't you consider buying my building?"
A historic building is now set to take on a very modern function.
"This is a beautiful building, we don't really want to mess with that," said Adam Laurent, Chief Operating Officer for SLOCAL Management LLC. "We want to retain everything that's already special about this building."
The new owners will need to work with the city to address security, and other concerns.
"We already have a fully executed security plan," said Laurent. "It includes closed-circuit television both inside and outside the building that has a live feed to the police department."
The seller added that he has mixed feelings about selling the building which currently houses artwork from his late father.
"I'm somewhat reluctant to leave, it's a funny little town and you get attached to it," said Ritter. "It's like a time warp in this town, you feel like you're maybe 50 years ago. At the same time, my business is tottering on bankruptcy and COVID didn't help at all."
The dispensary owner added that 6% of profits will go directly to the City of Guadalupe.
The new dispensary will be called Root One. The goal is to have it open in the next six to nine months.
