Main Street Marijuana is expanding its downtown and east Vancouver locations, steps that co-owner Ramsey Hamide hopes will make room for faster sales.
The downtown location, at 2314 Main St., is now expanding into the neighboring storefront that formerly housed the antique store Uptown Attic. The move adds 2,000 square feet to the shop.
Meanwhile, the east Vancouver location at 16219 S.E. 12th St. will take over a 3,400-square-foot storefront on the floor above.
Hamide said the expansions will enable the stores to grow their showrooms while increasing the size of storage spaces and employee rest areas. The stores have more than 90 workers between them, he said.
“Both (store locations) have continued to grow,” he said. The two locations are the first and sixth top-selling marijuana retailers in Washington, combining for just more than $2 million in sales in February, according to the marijuana industry tracking website 502data.com.
Hamide, who owns the store with his brother Adam, said the key is getting shoppers what they need as quickly as possible. Marijuana flower continues to get cheaper, so adding extra space will help them add staff and process sales more quickly.
“If you look at revenues, it actually looks kind of flat. You’re not seeing that behind the scenes prices have fallen substantially, so to get that same (sales) we have to move a lot more units,” he said.
Marijuana flower, the most popular recreational marijuana product available, retails at less than $7 per gram on average, including excise tax, according to representatives from the state Liquor and Cannabis Board.
“It’s a matter of supply and demand, and there’s plenty of supply,” said Brian Smith, spokesman for the agency.
The new space and some additional parking helps alleviate two big problems for the Uptown Village location. Last August, Hamide said it was possible the business would relocate because of the space shortage and challenges with parking.
Main Street Marijuana has a third location in Longview that was recently remodeled, as well.
