Here are all the changes coming to Centre County’s medical marijuana dispensaries
Changes are coming to Centre County’s medical marijuana dispensaries.
The county’s landscape in the medical marijuana community completely shifted since October, when it boasted just a single dispensary. Now, that dispensary is in the midst of rebranding after a company takeover, another opened for the first time last month, and a third just updated its timeline for a grand opening.
All are located along Atherton Street within the State College area.
Here’s a closer look at all the changes:
New dispensary, new timeline
Home D Pizzeria (1820 S. Atherton St.) closed its doors last June after announcing a future tenant — which initially anticipated leasing only the back portion of the restaurant — instead needed to lease the entire building.
That tenant turned out to be PharmaCann, the parent company to Verilife dispensaries.
In December, a PharmaCann spokesperson told the CDT that the new State College dispensary should open by the end of March. On Thursday, a spokesperson said the plan now is to open in April.
“We are now working to schedule the final state and local inspections and approvals, and expect our Verilife State College dispensary to begin serving patients by the end of April,” said Brandon Nemec, PharmaCann’s government and regulatory affairs associate director. “We are excited to bring a full suite of product choices and additional patient access to the greater Centre County region as soon as authorized by regulators, and join the State College retail business community.”
Verilife operates in a half-dozen states and boasts seven dispensary locations in Pennsylvania, with the closest to Centre County currently in Williamsport. It offers a price-match guarantee on identical in-stock items from other state dispensaries.
Changes and rebranding
Nature’s Medicines became the county’s first medical marijuana dispensary after opening in June 2018 at 2105 N. Atherton St. But, last October, it was acquired by Ayr Wellness as part of a three-dispensary deal that included upfront consideration of $80 million.
Customers might’ve noticed some incremental changes since that time, but Ayr Wellness announced it would quicken its transition this month. Expect to see new signage in the coming weeks that now touts the location as “Ayr Wellness State College.”
“Sometimes, you see with dispensaries an overnight change; someone purchases them and they just turn it on. That’s not the approach we wanted to take,” said Julie Winter, Ayr Wellness’ vice president of retail operations. “We wanted to make sure that the dispensary technicians and the leadership team really understood who Ayr is and how we operate, get some of our technology integrated and then start to talk to the patients who have come to know and love Nature’s Medicines.”
The biggest changes for customers might be the addition of a loyalty rewards program, along with products exclusive to the Ayr brand. The vertically-integrated company produces several cannabis products — such as Revel, Seven Hills (what it terms “craft marijuana”) and Origyn concentrate/vape — and some strains are exclusive to Ayr Wellness while others will first show up at Ayr dispensaries before being sold elsewhere.
“It’s going to be a new look and feel in terms of the signage,” Winter added, “but the people will be the same.”
Ayr Wellness operates in seven states, with eight dispensaries in Pennsylvania.
Recently opened
Curaleaf State College officially became the county’s second dispensary when it opened last month on Feb. 19. It’s located at 1248 S. Atherton St., the former site of a Citizens Bank.
The dispensary currently offers a “Get to Know Curaleaf” special that includes discounts on patients’ first three visits — 20% off the first visit, 25% off the second and 30% off the third. Curaleaf boasts several of its own products (e.g. Grassroots flower, Curaleaf-branded items, Select Cannabis oil) and has a loyalty rewards program.
The company operates 128 dispensaries and 26 cultivation sites across the country. Curaleaf State College is the company’s 15th location in the commonwealth; the closest Curaleaf dispensary to Centre County was previously in Altoona.
