New Recreational Dispensary Opens in Golden

Golden's dispensary count has just doubled, from one to two stores.

Igadi, a retail marijuana chain with roots in the Colorado mountains, opened a recreational pot shop on May 8 at 791 Pine Ridge Road in Golden. It's Igadi's tenth location since the company's first store opened in Tabernash eight years ago, and it's Golden's second dispensary since voters there approved recreational marijuana sales.

"This is an area that really needed it. People who lived here had to drive a really long distance to get access to cannabis. That was reflected in our soft opening. This was one of the best openings we've ever had," Igadi co-owner David Michel says. "I think it shows the pent-up demand."

In Colorado, local governments or voters must approve commercial marijuana activities before businesses can open within their borders. Golden City Council put a moratorium on all new dispensaries in 2014, allowing the town's lone medical marijuana dispensary to remain open, and the topic of legal recreational sales wasn't broached again until last year, when voters approved a total of four recreational dispensaries in town.

Only five businesses applied for those licenses. Golden's grandfathered-in medical dispensary, now named Verts Neighborhood Dispensary, received one of those four recreational licenses and was able to open for recreational sales in March. Nebrina Golden and Outcrop Dispensary received the other two dispensary licenses; both stores are still under construction on West Colfax Avenue. Igadi, which is located in northwestern Golden, is the only dispensary within a five-mile radius, according to Michel.

Michel believes Igadi will benefit from the lack of competition. In Denver, there are about 3,500 people for each dispensary. In Golden, Igadi has more elbow room because "the three other dispensaries are all on or near Colfax," he notes.

A vertically integrated marijuana business that owns dispensaries, cultivations, extraction labs and infused product facilities, Igadi makes around 30 percent of the products it sells, which enables lower price points for customers, according to Michel. Igadi's founding group has also remained relatively intact since its debut, enabling more "core competencies" throughout the company, he adds.

"We have to wear a lot of hats effectively, and I think we're excellent at it. There were twenty of us who started this business in Tabernash, and fifteen of us are still here," Michel says. "We still have the same head grower and the same extractor, so we've really been able to maintain continuity of our products. It's a challenge, but it's something I think we do better than most."

The Golden store's opening follows the debut of a new Lyons outpost last October, and Igadi is still looking for new opportunities, potentially even a first store in Denver.

"Expansion is something we're focused on, but only in Colorado," Michel says. "If the right opportunity presented itself in Denver, we'd be thrilled, but we have great locations in other markets around the state."

To celebrate the new Golden dispensary, Igadi is holding a grand opening on Wednesday, May 24, with "customer appreciation promotions and a lot of specials and exclusive products to that location," according to Michel.