New South Broadway Dispensary Has Pueblo Roots

Pueblo cannabis is now flowing into Denver, thanks to Three Rivers Dispensary.

Named after co-founder Bruce Nassau’s three favorite rivers in the state – the Arkansas, Colorado and Roaring Fork rivers – Three Rivers Dispensary started in Pueblo in 2015 as a medical marijuana dispensary. Three Rivers later opened a recreational store in Pueblo County, and it now has a dual-use dispensary at 135 South Broadway in Denver.

The southern Colorado outfit’s newest pot shop hasn’t been open two weeks, but it already stands out with its old-school approach.

“We don’t have any wholesale flower. A lot of people are reliant on the wholesale market, and we like to control the process, for quality control. So we grow all of our own flower in Pueblo West,” co-owner David Greenman says.

In the early days of recreational pot, state law required that dispensaries grow most of the cannabis they sold, but those rules ended years ago. Since then, the vast majority of dispensaries stock strains from a wide variety of wholesale growers, and some have abandoned internal cultivation altogether. However, according to Three Rivers co-owners Greenman and Scott Smith, cutting out outside providers enables the dispensary to have lower prices for shoppers.

Ounces of flower run from $79.99 to just over $130, with prices based on “how much we have in the grow,” Greenman says.

A handful of Denver cannabis chains have moved into southern Colorado, but smaller companies moving north is rare. Until Three Rivers joined the lineup, outside of Apothecary Farms – a dispensary chain based in Colorado Springs – all of the dispensaries on South Broadway were outposts of companies founded or established in Denver. And while Greenman and Smith believe their Pueblo pot will stand up favorably to the Mile High competition, that’s not the only challenge they’ll face.

Before Three Rivers opened in Denver, 135 South Broadway was a different dispensary, Top Shelf, for nearly ten years. However, Top Shelf closed earlier this year as Colorado cannabis prices hit record lows and sales dropped over 20 percent from 2021 to 2022.

“It’s a tough market nowadays. We feel that we’re able to offer something different than our competitors,”
Smith notes. “We believe we have one of the largest selections of concentrates at the moment, as well.”

Some of Three Rivers’ most popular strains include established heavyweights such as Kush Mints and MAC, in-house favorites like Grape Drink, and Golden Goat, a classic from past decades. The owners are still outfitting the new store and planning a potential grand-opening party, according to Greenman, but customers can expect to see plenty of Smith’s vintage art from the ’70s and celebratory prices.

“We have a lot of deals coming up. We’re definitely going to be running some specials. We haven’t nailed down what they’ll be quite yet, but we will be running a lot of promotions very soon,” says Greenman, who adds that he often has to confirm that his last name is real.

“Yes, I’ve been told it’s a good name for the industry.”