The top-selling pot shop in Washington may be outgrowing itself.
Since opening in July 2014, Main Street Marijuana has served a deluge of customers in becoming the busiest marijuana retailer in the state. But only street parking is available around its Uptown Village storefront.
So, co-owner Ramsey Hamide said it might be time to relocate. Hamide said Friday there’s a 90 percent chance the business will move to a new location next year because customers say the store and streets are too packed.
“I’ve heard from customers that if there’s parking in front of the store, they’ll come in,” but not otherwise, Hamide said.
The Main Street Marijuana shop at 2314 Main St. in Vancouver gets roughly 2,000 visitors a day and employs 50 people. Its store totals 3,500 square feet, but the showroom is less than half that size.
Marijuana Store Revenues
Top marijuana stores in Washington in July, ranked by revenue:
1. Main Street Marijuana, Vancouver, $1,488,904
2. Clear Choice Cannabis, Tacoma, $1,187,628
3. Green2Go, Kennewick, $1,164,175
4. Have A Heart, Seattle, $1,002,618
5. Evergreen Market, Auburn, $853,581
SOURCE: 502data.com
There are four years left on the lease, Hamide said, but a clause would allow him to opt out as long as he gives three months’ notice. Landlord Norbert Anderson said Main Street Marijuana would only move “because they’ve gotten too busy.”
But that could be the case. The store sold $1.5 million worth of marijuana products in July, its busiest month since May 2016. Main Street has sold $9.6 million in marijuana products so far this year and paid $3.5 million in excise taxes, according to marijuana sales tracking website 502data.com.
Not everyone has been happy to see the traffic increase. Neighbor Renee Soasey, 62, said she and her husband’s lives have been disrupted by the business’s long hours and the comings and goings of customers and employees.
“We personally are so thrilled to see them go, I can’t tell you,” she said. “I can’t go to bed until after they close and their employees leave because of all the chaos.”
Main Street Marijuana’s Uptown Village store is open from 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week.
But Jim Girard, 70, who chaired the Arnada Neighborhood Association during the store’s first two years of operation, said he hadn’t heard any complaints.
“Never have I heard a word of it,” the retired pneumatic air tool technician said. “It’s a legal business, and they seem to be exceedingly prosperous, let’s put it that way.”
Where Main Street Marijuana will land is still undecided.
Hamide, who co-owns Main Street Marijuana with his brother Adam, said they hope to land a location within a mile of their current location. The ideal place would provide 15 to 30 parking spaces and double their showroom. That may mean building a store themselves.
“We’re definitely going to explore all avenues, and again, it’s all in the name of servicing our customers,” Hamide said.
