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Dino Salvatori does not partake in that which he peddles at Palmer Lake’s Dead Flowers, but he’s nonetheless a devoted promoter of weed, and rock ‘n’ roll, from his stage in the tiny town northwest of Colorado Springs, where sales of recreational marijuana have been legal since 2023.
No gas station, no grocery store, but two rec grass shops just off the main drag through a hamlet of about 2,500.
Salvatori has some mostly movable insights and advice for business owners in Colorado Springs, where recreational marijuana sales became legal Tuesday.
“The biggest thing is, get ready for change,” said Salvatori, who expanded his medical marijuana business to offer recreational sales on April 1, 2023, following the approval of 55% of Palmer Lake voters.
He said that after the expansion from solely medical, Dead Flowers’ operation went from about 12 to 15 daily customers to “now, hundreds a day.”
“It was night and day difference,” he said.
While Salvatori said he expects Tuesday’s opening of more than two dozen recreational dispensaries some 20 miles to the south will likely impact his business, he doesn’t anticipate a deal breaker.
“My store is somewhat unique, and we’ve got a pretty good following,” Savatori said, of the family-owned and run operation. “I would say, most of our business probably still comes out of northern El Paso County and Douglas County. We do see some people out of Colorado Springs, so I’m sure we will see some kind of impact. But I’m OK with it. We’ll see what happens.”
Just down the street from Dead Flowers is Palmer Lake’s other medical+rec marijuana shop, Alpine Essentials, a business owned and operated by Melissa Woodward and her family.
Woodward said she expects to feel a bit of a burn from the opening of recreational shops in Colorado Springs, but the “scope has yet to be seen.”
She hopes, and Alpine Essentials continues to strive, for the best.
“Even if we are going to be losing some of our Colorado Springs customer base, we have great customer service, a very loyal customer base, and consistent quality, all things I think that will contribute to customers continuing to shop with us,” Woodward said.
As for potential impacts on the local industry, and inventory, writ large?
“Colorado Springs legalizing recreational sales doesn’t suddenly convert a ton of Colorado Springs residents to being cannabis users, so it hasn’t enlarged the market in that sense,” Woodward said.
Palmer Lake was the second municipality in El Paso County to legalize recreational marijuana after Manitou Springs, where sales began at Maggie’s Farm on Aug. 14, 2014, at 4:20 p.m.
“We’ve been here since the infancy of the industry and as one of the original independent cannabis businesses still standing, we’ve had to adjust to many changes,” said CEO Bill Conkling. “We have always welcomed competition and have never supported limiting access anywhere, not even in our own backyard here in Colorado Springs.”
Competition, he said, “raises the bar as we know, and that’s good for the customer.”
On that note, Conkling said that Maggie’s Farm has introduced new products that will further set its brand apart from the competition that seemingly, and did, expand exponentially overnight.
He pointed to the company’s “clean certified organic product, at a very competitive affordable price,” adding that what shops provide on the shelves, is only part of the job.
The blending of borders between medical and recreational may not be so easily navigated, in a human setting.
Medical customers, he said, have grown accustomed to dealing with those who know them, and treat them as though no one’s watching the clock.
For companies who are continuing to embrace, and provide, what began as a medical service, while also stepping up for a newfound and perhaps more time-bound recreational clientele, it’s important to remember where you started.
“These are different customers, with different expectations,” Conkling said. “Personal experience is what people will remember.”
”}]] Dino Salvatori does not partake in that which he peddles at Palmer Lake’s Dead Flowers, but he’s nonetheless a devoted promoter of weed, and rock ‘n’ roll, from his stage Read More
