Business booms for MA pot shop, despite obstacles in industry

It’s been more than three months since the launch of the first legal pot shop in Massachusetts and as more dispensaries continue to pop up, business continues to boom without the long lines and insane traffic.

Pioneers like Chris Harkins, CEO of Fall River’s pot shop, Northeast Alternatives said it’s the opposite of what most people would think would happen. His shop has actually seen business grow.

“We’ve actually seen week over week upticks in the amount of sales and the amount of people,” he said. “Things haven’t really slowed down.”

He said that although his shop continues to see an influx of customers, his crew has a good grip on things.

However, with such high demand and shops scarce around the state, shops like Harkins’ are dealing with a few hiccups.

“If you ask me what our biggest challenge is it’s that we literally cannot get some of our products customers want, mainly edibles,” Harkins said. 

A big change is on the way for Harkins’ shop as he now plans on creating edibles in-house for customers to keep up with demand. He expects that to happen in a couple of weeks.

When he does get certain products, Harkins said it usually flies off the shelf.

Another problem is adapting to the medical side of things. Patients entering shops are not used to how busy it has become since the recreation side launched.

The industry demand does come with a spike in job opportunities. Harkins said since the dispensary got its license, he’s added 63 people to his team.

With expansion, Northeast Alternatives is looking to put 500-700 people to work in the next two years.