Photo: Kirk Penton
Starbuds marketing director Dan Winer.
Starbuds is waiting patiently, along with the rest of the privately owned cannabis retailers that want to get the recreational business rolling.
The B.C. government, however, continues to take its sweet time in granting licences to retail outlets that have received approval at the municipal level.
The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce conducted its second Business of Cannabis luncheon on Tuesday at Coast Capri Hotel, and Starbuds marketing director Dan Winer spent most of his time on stage biting his tongue about the delays.
Retailers like the Kelowna-based Starbuds aren’t the only ones tapping their fingers, waiting for the government to make a move. The licensed producers are also upset.
“The B.C. government has been negligent in not providing more access for cannabis,” said Flowr Corp. chief policy and medical officer Dr. Lyle Oberg, who was also a panel member. “It’s inexcusable that there’s no cannabis stores in Kelowna. There’s one or two or three in Vancouver, and it’s time to actually get going on this.”
Winer, perhaps not wanting to bite the hand that feeds, was a bit more diplomatic when asked about the delay following the luncheon.
“It’s a blessing and a curse,” he said. “We obviously thought we would have more stores open. We wanted to be open and serving Kelowna for the summer and existing here in the Okanagan region. Our Lake Country store has been held up for several months.
“But at the same time it’s allowed us to kind of pivot and focus our business in other ways. So we’ve expanded our medical reach in Australia. We’re one of the first medical clinics to be operating internationally, and that’s headquartered out of Kelowna, so that’s a nice accomplishment.
“But it’s not nearly where we thought we would be as far as recreational (cannabis) is concerned. It’s disappointing and disheartening, but we found ways to be creative in the process.”
Winer has no idea when the provincial government is going to finally approve the Starbuds locations, but his educated guess is it can’t be much longer.
“The Okanagan seems to be this black box where applications go into and we’re not sure what’s going to come out,” Winer said. “So the heat is on. I think the politicians in the region are starting to feel it a little bit more, and hopefully we’re able to open up something soon, whether it’s us or some of the other great retailers that are going to be opening up shops in town.”
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