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Unity Marguerite talks about how the Village Bloomery is adapting to COVID-19.
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By Simon Gerard
Eighteen months into legalization and the cannabis retail experience isn’t fully defined for both the retailer and customer. Retailers have to interpret and adapt to vague and changing regulations at national and provincial levels. Customers are generally in the dark on regulations, which stand between them and purchasing cannabis. And both retailers and customers are fundamentally new to selling and buying legal cannabis.
Now a month into the COVID-19 pandemic, the government, cannabis retailers and their customers have been dealing with a whole new set of challenges caused by a global pandemic.
Cannabis was deemed an essential service by B.C.’s provincial government, with retail stores needing to follow orders from the provincial health officer to ensure physical distancing and enhanced sanitizing measures are in place. Village Bloomery, a legacy and legal cannabis retail shop found in Kitsilano just outside of downtown Vancouver, has been doing an excellent job of informing their customers through social media on COVID-19. Content creator Unity Marguerite, who’s in charge of procurement at the Village Bloomery, discussed her experience dealing with the pandemic online and in-store.
Adapting to COVID-19
The Village Bloomery has been responding to COVID-19 fast and frequently on social media. They’re known in the cannabis community for caring about their customers. Through their Instagram they created posts and many Stories showing what they’re doing in-store to best serve customers safely. They also added a feature Story on their Instagram profile that showcases all their COVID-19 related content for people who missed the live Stories.
“This is a challenging time for retailers staying open for various reasons. Working in cannabis, we’re already accustomed to constant pivots; creating a retail environment during COVID-19 is another pivot,” says Marguerite. “We’ve set up our store to function and be welcoming during this time while maintaining the requests from the government to maintain physical distance between each of the staff members and the visiting customers.”
They’ve reduced their days and hours, along with the public space within their location. They closed their ‘Flower Shop’ secondary room and extended their front counter space. Only two customers are allowed in the store at a time. Extra effort has gone into sanitation and limiting any physical interaction. They also offer “Click & Collect,” now letting people browse and order online for a quick and easy in-person pickup. To keep potential visitors informed, the Village Bloomery website has a pop-up on COVID-19 and they created a Google Business post on COVID-19 for anyone that Googles them.
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Cannabis trends and stockpiling
Once social distancing and staying at home was being recommended, headlines of people stocking up on cannabis started making rounds. Marguerite saw this first-hand:
“(The cannabis stockpiling) was very interesting to witness. The first week of March, our sales were consistent with previous weeks. Then March 10 to 12 our sales dropped, there was a sense of people staying in more. Then starting March 13 our sales began doubling and tripling. This trend has continued.”
“The popular products have shifted and the people visiting our store have also shifted,” says Marguerite. “We no longer have tourists visiting, and this demographic was common for us, since we are consistently listed as one of the best cannabis stores in Vancouver. We have many new consumers coming in looking for something to ease their anxiety, for sleep and to get high for the first time.
“A few items performing very well are the Daily Special 15 grams and Pure Sun Farms Ounce. People are looking to purchase larger amounts of dried flower at a lower price point. This fits their budget and allows them to hunker down longer without needing to restock. This being said, we’re also noticing that our top-shelf brand Whistler is selling faster than it has previously.
“Our gel caps, tinctures and edibles are more popular. Many people live in apartments and smoking is not an option. As well as we’re aware this is a respiratory virus, so people are making different choices around their consumption.”
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On safer consumption
Chatting about safer consumption and smoking, Marguerite had a few points: “This is the time to learn how to roll your own joints and to not share them. I recommend stocking up on the tools needed for rolling like papers, filters, grinders, pokers, and trays. That being said, a dry-herb vaporizer is a safer way to smoke your cannabis. It will also be less intrusive on your neighbours if you live in close quarters. This is the time to invest in one. Personally, my next self-isolation purchase will be the Levo oil infuser. I’m spending more time at home and I’m ready to learn how to infuse my own oils to make topicals and infused food. With COVID-19 affecting people’s respiratory systems and income, making your own edible and topical products can benefit your lungs and budget.”
Cannabis buying tips during COVID-19
Marguerite shared some quick tips on safely purchasing cannabis: “Be kind and respectful to everyone. We’re all experiencing uncertainty.
“When using retail services, arrive prepared to reduce your time in-store and the need for extended dialogue. We always love to chat but, unfortunately, we need to avoid doing it in person. Use Click & Collect so your visit is sweet, easy and quick. And remember these workers are putting themselves at risk to serve you, please remember to give thanks and tip when possible, whether it’s a budtender or anyone else providing essential services during this time.” |
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Valens making hand sanitizer
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The Valens Company is now producing hand sanitizer liquid with an initial 1,300 litre-batch at its Kelowna facility to help alleviate product supply shortages as a result of the COVID-19 health crisis.
The Valens Company will bottle and donate 40,000 bottles of hand sanitizer in various formats to frontline health care workers across Canada. The Company is focusing on British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario for distribution, as well as providing 10,000 units to Shoppers Drug Mart to aid their public-facing workers at pharmacies across Canada. Simultaneously, the company is working with hospital networks, all essential services and various associations servicing the vulnerable, to distribute supplies to those who need it most.
Read the news release.
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Read the latest By The Ounce column in The Daily Courier newspaper.
True Leaf is in the doghouse
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Namesake of Charlotte’s Web dies at 13
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A young girl whose medical struggles became a rallying point for legalizing medical cannabis has died.
Charlotte Figi was 13.
“Charlotte is no longer suffering. She is seizure-free forever. Thank you so much for all of your love,” the Figi family announced on Facebook.
Charlotte became known as “the girl who is changing medical marijuana laws across America.”
At three months old, she began suffering seizures from Dravet Syndrome, a severe and difficult to control type of epilepsy that causes prolonged seizures.
The high-CBD, low-THC cannabis strain Charlotte’s Web is named after her and was created to help ease her symptoms. After taking the oil, she suffered only a handful of seizures a month.
In March, the Colorado family was hit hard by a virus.
While most of the household recovered well from a month of being sick, Charlotte was up and down in her recovery.
“We used all of our tricks the past few days but nothing worked,” said the family on April 3 from the hospital.
“In all my years working in facilities and in the field I have never felt as helpless as I have holding her when she is seizing and these past few very tough days.”
Things seemed to turn around on April 5, when Charlotte was discharged from the hospital.
However, on April 7, the family announced she had succumbed.
The family said later that she tested negative for the virus.
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Peek at post-pandemic world
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Cannabis conferences that had to be postponed due to the novel coronavirus are starting to be rescheduled.
Those organized by HFC Productions, including the Growing Summit in Kelowna, now have tentative dates.
“While we monitor the evolving situation in Canada and internationally, HFC Productions Inc. is working closely with affiliated partners, exhibitors, and venues to ensure we are implementing any additional safety requirements to the best of our ability,” said organizers.
“We kindly ask for your patience as we identify and implement best practices during these extraordinary circumstances.”
Changes they’ve made in light of the pandemic include:
- Hiring a Manager of Sanitation to deliver on extra sanitation protocols that go above and beyond standard venue services,
- Renting more venue space to increase social distancing,
- Providing silicon tips from Moose Labs to prevent sharing of smoking paraphernalia,
- Providing live streaming, podcasting, and viewable online recordings for guests who are unable to attend the event in person,
- Offering more chef stations and/or plated meals in place of full buffets (some meals with remain buffet style).
Rescheduled conferences are:
Photo: HempFest Canada Instagram @hempfestcanada
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On again, off again in Ontario
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Cannabis has had an on-again, off-again relationship in Ontario.
Canada’s most populous province initially showed its progressive side, declaring brick-and-mortar legal retail stores essential.
Then Ontario backtracked and closed them, giving an online monopoly to the Ontario Cannabis Store.
Most recently, it changed its mind again, allowing brick and mortar to reopen.
Is your head spinning, too?
The decision to open legal shops is to curtail the illicit market.
Stores will open in a limited capacity, which comes with added benefits customers have been asking for — click-to-reserve and delivery options. The new measures have been instituted for two weeks, but could be extended.
A similar click and pick-up system is also available in BC, but there is no door-to-door delivery option. Instead, the BC Cannabis Store has knocked $2 off its shipping fee because you have to pick up your order at the local post office.
Herb vs. alcohol
Every so often the differences between cannabis and alcohol become particularly pronounced.
While 'marijuana' has been ridiculously blamed for everything from imbuing laziness to insanity causing murder, it's booze’s darker side that's becoming obvious through the pandemic. Liquor stores are staying open as essential because in extreme cases of alcoholism, quitting cold turkey could mean death.
Cannabis on the other hand has been declared essential federally because it’s medicine. And recreational cannabis has been declared essential in numerous provinces because legal pot is good for the economy and bad for crime.
— David Wylie
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Find us most weeks on the Cannabis 101 Podcast during the 'This Week in Cannabis News' segment. Click here to subscribe and listen.
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I'm going to name my first son Kelvin.
Just so everybody knows he's an absolute unit.
When my wife caught me standing on the bathroom scales, sucking in my stomach, she laughed, “Ha! That’s not going to help!”
“Sure, it does,” I said. “It’s the only way I can see the numbers.”
What do you call a magician who has lost their magic?
Ian
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