And then there were three…

Clark County’s third recreational marijuana shop (in a non ban area) opened quietly last week.

The shop, Cannabis Country Store in Battle Ground, definitely has a more rural, homey feel to it than Vancouver’s Main Street Marijuana and New Vansterdam.

(Clark County’s fourth shop, Sticky’s on Route 99, is only open as a paraphernalia shop because of the county ban on marijuana stores)

The new store has a woody, rustic feel, and owner Loren Carlson contracted with local cabinet maker Estes Custom Woodwork to build the paneling and displays. It also has more open floor space than the two Vancouver stores.

Flower prices there are similar to those in Vancouver. So far, the stock ranges from about $28 to $36 a gram. But the Battle Ground shop also has some stock that we haven’t seen elsewhere – including the first products from Agrijuana, a Battle Ground grower that just came on line.

The shop has also partnered with Mary Jane’s House of Glass to provide locally-made glassware and expertise.

Carlson said that’s part of a deliberate effort to keep everything about the store as local and regional as possible so it can help the economy.

“We’ve had a very warm welcome here,” Carlson said. “We’re creating jobs, Agrijuana is creating jobs, Mary Jane’s is creating jobs in Camas. You listen to all the politicians and they say ‘we’re going to create jobs’ and that’s what we really want to do.”

Mary Jane’s often has a representative on hand at the shop as well to help explain products, like grinders and vaporizers, to customers.

David Saberi, a partner in Mary Jane’s, was there when I stopped by and said so far it’s been great working with the new shop.

“When you find partnerships like this that are like minded, with that family connection, it creates a passion for the team and for the products,” Saberi said. “We want to make sure customers have a positive experience. We want them to come in and learn.”

Carlson said he encourages those who are relatively new to marijuana, or are returning to it after meany years, to come by the shop and ask questions.

“Come in and learn, you don’t have to buy anything, we just want people to feel welcome to come in and check it out,” Carlson said.

Carlson admits, like many, it took him a while to change his attitude about marijuana. He actually voted against I-502, but changed his mind after looking into it as a business opportunity, he said.

“As we looked at it as a business, we went to Colorado, we saw retail stores there, and the thing that really struck me was the sort of people involved in the industry,” Carlson said. “They were warm, inviting, really interested in the industry. Really smart. We wanted to work with people like that.”

And if he had it to do over again, he said he’d “absolutely” vote for legalization here.

That said, he also hopes that the state and federal tax structure (which taxes the excise tax) on cannabis can be fixed – both to lower costs for consumers and to help Southwest Washington compete with Oregon once its legal businesses begin opening.

“It’s actually not that easy to make money in this business (because of the taxes),” Carlson said. “We’re coming out of the gate in survival mode until we get this sorted out. But that has to be done in Seattle and I’m not sure how interested they are in us down here.”

Right now, the store has about a dozen strains from Agrijuana, a few strains from CannaMan Farms in Vancouver and about 11 strains from W.O.W. Weed in Klickitat County. The menu list is here: http://www.cannabiscountrystore.com/bud-menu.html

The Cannabis Country Store had a soft opening, but Carlson is planning a larger grand opening ceremony sometime soon. The shop is open from Monday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

If you visit, let us know what you think! Also if you’ve tried any Agrijuana products, we’d love to hear your reviews.

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

Here’s the store info:

Cannabis Country Store (opened in early November, 2014)
1910 W. Main Street
Battle Ground, WA
(360) 723-0073
http://www.cannabiscountrystore.com/
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