Vancouver’s recreational pot shop, New Vansterdam, plans to open its first medical dispensary in the Portland area on May 1, said Brian Budz, one of the store’s owners.

The Vancouver store is consistently ranked among the top three stores in Washington for sales. The medical dispensary, which will be at 4709 S.W. Beaverton Hillsdale Highway, Portland, is a way for the company to grow and prepare for Oregon’s legal market to launch, Budz said.

“It’s a fairly logical expansion for us into Oregon right now,” Budz said. “That is something we had to look at, because we’re on the Oregon border, and we’re expecting a substantial business hit (when rec shops open in Portland).”

The medical store, Called New Vansterdam Med, will also help the company train staff for the Vancouver store, because if the medical and recreational markets merge in Washington (as bills in the state Legislature seem to indicate), New Vansterdam would like to apply for a medical certification, Budz said.

“If that works out, that would be fantastic,” Budz said.

The location requirements (being away from schools, day care centers and other places where kids are concentrated) are fairly similar in the Washington recreational and Oregon medical markets, he said.

And if Oregon decides to build its recreational system out of its medical system, Budz said New Vansterdam Med would also likely try to serve both markets.

“Right now there are so many things being talked about in Oregon, we just don’t know what will happen yet,” Budz said.

Cheers!
-SueVo (sue.vorenberg@columbian.com)

New Vansterdam:
(360) 597-4739
6515 E Mill Plain Blvd
http://newvansterdam.com
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@NVansterdam on Twitter

New Vansterdam Med:
(360) 216-5508
4709 SW Beaverton Hillsdale Hwy
Portland, Oregon
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