Good Chemistry to Open Highland Dispensary

Good Chemistry is opening another dispensary in Denver, this time in the lower Highland neighborhood.

The new store, a recreational shop at 2563 15th Street, will open on Wednesday, October 30. It will be Good Chemistry's fourth store in the metro area, with two more in Denver and another in Aurora.

Having a Good Chemistry location in the area hits close to home for CEO Matthew Huron, as Highland was the first neighborhood he lived in after moving to Colorado. Good Chemistry’s new location also has a unique story, as it was built in the 1890s and is now considered a landmark historical building by the City of Denver.

“A lot of customers who went to our other locations said they lived in Highland,” Huron explains. “We listened and wanted to put a new location there.”

State Representative Alex Valdez, who represents the House district in which lower Highland is located, sounds like a happy new neighbor. “I’m thrilled to welcome Good Chemistry to north Denver, and think they will be a great addition to the neighborhood," Valdez says in a statement.

Customers entering Good Chemistry’s new location will get to check out educational displays; Huron notes that those jumping into cannabis may not know much about the plant before consuming it, and says that educating customers is important to help them learn which strains work best for certain activities.

“Most people don’t know how to navigate the world of cannabis well,” he says. “I think it’s important that customers and patients understand how cannabis is grown and cultivated.”

One way that Good Chemistry helps customers is by categorizing cannabis strains into four categories: sleep, relieve, relax and amplify. That way, they can better navigate the potential effects a certain strain will have. The dispensary has also created a system called S.T.A.T.S. — sight, touch, aroma, taste and sensation — a five-step guide to help consumers evaluate the quality of cannabis flower.

“We put out the evaluation system guide three to four years ago, asking some important questions,” Huron explains. “We thought about what we look for in strains, and what are the do’s and don’ts of buying a cannabis flower.”

Internally bred strains such as Geraldine and Elmar have a personal touch from Huron, as they’re named after his mother and his father's partner, respectively. In fact, Huron’s father was the reason that Huron began cultivating cannabis twenty years ago in San Francisco; he was looking for a way to provide relief for his father James, and his partner, Elmar, both of whom were living with AIDS/HIV.

“We started this small cannabis co-op that expanded over the years,” Huron relates. “Moving to Colorado afterward was something we looked at when [the state] began thinking about putting together a regulatory framework for marijuana.”

With four stores in Colorado, a dispensary in Massachusetts and a production facility in Nevada, Good Chemistry seems to be on top of that framework.