Category: Opinion

Our second red flag was caused by our breezeway cover. I wrote in the April 2018 issue of Marijuana Venture that because the state does not consider our activities agricultural in nature, building departments are forcing factory (F1) building codes upon cannabis growers. We were approved to build two grow…

A friend of mine sent me a message a few weeks back, asking if I thought it would be smart to invest in marijuana or CBD. My short answer was “no.” For the vast majority of people looking to invest for retirement, to put money away for their children’s education…

The cannabis industry alarm bells are sounding again. The most recent alarm? Colombian cannabis farms. Both U.S. investors and growers alike are facing threats from the newly legalized medical marijuana market in Colombia. While Colombia only allows the production of medical marijuana oils and extracts, not the sale of dried…

Being in my position isn’t always rainbows and butterflies. Known as the “fun sucker” in the building, I am constantly on top of every move we make in our business. Not only do I need to monitor regulations set forth by the state Department of Health, we must also abide…

When Lightshade was started in 2011, the cannabis industry in most markets was still very much in its infancy. When we opened our first location, our customers were overwhelmingly men. As our customer demographics have started to balance out, so has the interest of women in joining our young industry.…

Last month I wrote a piece called Marijuana 2.0, discussing some of the inevitable changes that are occurring in the cannabis industry. In a nutshell, my take has always been that changes are inevitable in any new industry and, no matter what those changes are, there will be winners and…

One factor causing our bottleneck was our one-on-one, concierge-style customer experience, which pairs a retail associate with each customer to provide an education about our various products. We were challenged to continue to offer this model while aiming to keep wait times under three minutes. As our business grew, so…

I hate shopping but I love stores. Let me explain: Stores are amazing places where I can find a product I’m looking for and I can talk to people about its finer details; shopping is for people who visit numerous stores searching for deals on things they had no intention…

The journey begins with our receptionist — a role perfectly suited for somebody outgoing. The receptionist has the power to create a great first impression and set the tone. We start every interaction by asking the customer if it’s their first visit to Lightshade. The answer informs what happens next.…

Over the past weeks, we have spent hours driving around Southern Oregon, collecting yards of native, unamended soil from several locations. It’s interesting to see all the variances in soil from our unique regions. The different soil types are housed in raised beds and completely separated from one another and…