Native Roots Adding Two Dispensaries in Denver

Opening a new retail dispensary in Denver right now might seem absurd.

So Native Roots is opening two instead. One store, located at 1155 South Colorado Boulevard, just opened today, May 14, and another is slated to open by month's end at 500 Grant Street; they're the nineteenth and twentieth Native Roots dispensaries in Colorado.

Declared essential businesses by state and local officials across Colorado, marijuana dispensaries have largely remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although both of the new Native Roots stores were in the works before the pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home orders were issued around the country, their design accommodates social distancing, according to the company.

“In addition to the in-store shopping experience that Native Roots customers are accustomed to, the Colorado Boulevard store will incorporate evolved digital experiences of online ordering, to-go style pick-up, and waitlisting that have become popular at dispensaries since the COVID-19 pandemic hit Colorado,” says Native Roots vice president of sales Denise De Nardi.

The Grant Street dispensary has been in the works since 2019; it's located in a former Boston Market, right off Speer Boulevard.

Both of the new stores are part of a rebrand effort as Native Roots transforms into Native Roots Cannabis Co., according to CEO Ryan Brown, with the Grant Street location set to become the dispensary chain's flagship location. (The original flagship, located just off the 16th Street Mall, was converted into a CBD store in 2018 under a different arm of the company, Native Roots Wellness, after a licensing dispute with the City of Denver.)

“We didn’t refresh our brand for the sake of change, but rather because we believe that a simple, distinctive evolution could help the brand accomplish its job more effectively,” Brown says.

The South Colorado Boulevard location is for recreational customers only, while the new Grant Street flagship will serve both recreational shoppers and medical marijuana patients.