Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 5/17/2023
WEST SPRINGFIELD — Dispensaries may be a new concept in West Springfield, but Tom Keenan and Curt Gezotis say the business model they’re bringing to town is familiar and successful locally.
The co-owners of Cannabis Connection hosted a community meeting May 11, after earlier receiving a special permit from the Planning Board to open their cannabis retail shop at 1102 Riverdale St., in what used to be Auto Credit Express. It will be their second venture, after opening the original Cannabis Connection dispensary in neighboring Westfield three years ago.
Keenan said the store will follow the state Cannabis Control Commission’s strict safety regulations, which include computerized tags on every piece of merchandise, video surveillance of every part of the store, and regular spot checks by CCC agents. He said the company has a track record of being a good neighbor in Westfield.
“We’ve had a great working relationship with the police department there,” he said. In three years, the Westfield location has had to call the police twice: Once to remove an argumentative customer making a scene, and once to arrest an employee caught stealing.
Keenan said in addition to paying local property taxes, Cannabis Connection will pay a 3% local sales tax on cannabis products, and will reimburse the town for any additional costs it incurs as a result of cannabis sales, up to 3% of the dispensary’s gross revenue. Although not required by the host agreement it signed with the town, Cannabis Connection also plans to donate to local charities, as it has done in Westfield. The store will employ 30-40 people, Keenan said, and he expects about half of those will be West Springfield residents.
Now that it has received its permit from the West Springfield Planning Board — after the more arduous process of gaining permission from the state — Cannabis Connection hopes to complete its renovation work by the fall, pass a final state inspection and open this winter. It will occupy 4,100 square feet, but more than half of that is secure storage and other employee-only areas; the sales floor is 1,600 square feet.
The West Springfield dispensary, in a strip mall near the Interstate 91 exit on Route 5, is purely a retail operation, Keenan said. Cannabis Connection buys the products it sells from other growers and manufacturers. Keenan said stocking tens of thousands of different products, and customers’ ability to browse in the store and speak with knowledgeable staff who have tested each product, are what distinguishes Cannabis Connection from its competitors.
Based on their experience in Westfield, Gezotis and Keenan expect their West Springfield shop to see 200-400 customers a day, but only for a few minutes at a time, as most transactions take just 4-6 minutes. On-site use of the products, including in the parking lot, is prohibited.
Gezotis said he doesn’t think his business will add much traffic to Riverdale Street. He said with multiple dispensaries in neighboring cities — including another Cannabis Connection just 15 minutes away — he expects shoppers at the new Cannabis Connection will be people who are already on Riverdale Street visiting other shops.
Cannabis Connection is one of two dispensaries proposed for West Springfield. The other is Fine Fettle, in a 3,719-square-foot storefront at 175 Memorial Ave., a former Verizon Wireless store. The parent company also operates medical marijuana dispensaries in Connecticut. As with Cannabis Connection, its West Springfield business would be limited to retail sales only.