The first state-licensed cannabis dispensary in South Dakota will open its doors next Wednesday.
The Unity Rd. franchise signed an agreement to open a shop in South Dakota in December of last year. The dispensary will sell medical marijuana to qualifying patients. Dispensary co-owner B.J. Olson says the business has secured the first initial inventory available to state-run stores and the showroom is ready for customers.
The building was created with security in mind, Olson said.
“We started with a vault and then built the building around the vault. We have eight-inch poured concrete walls, reinforced with rebar,” Olson said.
Their franchise partnership means all their display tables, cases and security devices in the building are all the same as other Unity Rd. locations across the country.
“The beauty of partnering with someone already established that has a plan in place is that we obtained the playbook,” co-owner Adam Jorgensen said. “This is stuff that we don’t have the ability to go out and procure on our own. This is part of the design team that comes specifically with our partnership with Unity Rd.”
The first cannabis dispensary in South Dakota is opening a year and a half since state voters overwhelmingly approved medical marijuana in November of 2020. According to a report from Sioux Falls Business, the dispensary is located at 404 W. Opal Lane in Hartford, SD.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.