Better than expected opening day at Eden pot shop

Marijuana legalization day exceeded the high expectations of the first pot shop to open in the Regina area.

Owner of Eden Cannabis Co., Allen Kilback, said opening day was outstanding.

“Every time you open a business you’re kind of concerned how busy it’s going to be but that just couldn’t have been a better day for us,” Kilback said.

A total of 884 customers, ranging in all legal ages, walked through the doors between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m.

“Through most of the day it was sort of middle age and through the night it turned a little younger,” Kilback said.

Some customers expressed concern over the prices at Eden, which sold at $18.99 per gram.

Kilback indicated on the Greg Morgan Morning Show that he’s trying to provide a quality product under the current tax rules.

“We’re just trying to provide a good product at a reasonable price,” Kilback said.

Eden plans to sell marijuana online once it’s website shop is up and running. Kilback anticipated that happening sometime over the weekend.

Support from the RM

The first marijuana shop to open on the outskirts of Regina is also near a community that didn’t want pot sales.

When the legalization plan was announced, not everyone was in favour of a retail store in their community.

Eden is located just a few kilometres west of Pilot Butte, a town that opted out of pot sales.

It was allowed to open in the more rural area in the RM of Edenwold along Highway 46. Reeve Mitch Huber even stopped by on opening day.

He said it was a tough decision for the RM to support legal marijuana.

“There was a lot of homework done on this. We took this decision very seriously,” Huber said.

Huber said he would have never showed support if the store was near a school or neighbourhood but called it a pretty good fit because of its distance to both.

— With files from 980 CJME’s Andrew Shepherd