Use this search box to find articles that have run in our newspapers over the last several years.
Date: 11/4/2020
CHICOPEE – On Oct. 24, Theory Wellness officially opened for medicinal cannabis sales. The Chicopee dispensary was previously only partaking in recreational cannabis transactions since their Feb. 29 store opening.
The Chicopee location of Theory Wellness is the company’s third Massachusetts store. They also have stores in Great Barrington and Bridgewater, which is where they do their production and manufacturing. They have recently expanded into Maine as well. Bridgewater was the company’s first dispensary, which opened initially as a medicinal dispensary.
Thomas Winstanley, director of Marketing for Theory Wellness, elaborated more on Chicopee’s medicinal addition.
“Medical was really where we got our start and where we wanted to come up in the industry. It was always part of our game plan to open our Chicopee location to offer medical services,” said Winstanley.
He told Reminder Publishing that the layout of the store in Chicopee was built with medicinal sales in mind and that they applied for both recreational and medicinal licenses before opening. The recreational license was approved first, which is why it took Theory Wellness a few months to begin their medicinal journey.
Now that they are open for medicinal sales, many customers may be wondering what it would take to get a medical marijuana card. In the state of Massachusetts, Winstanley said that there is a “relatively low barrier for entry” and someone with medical cannabis needs can be approved fairly easily.
The first step to obtaining a medical marijuana card would be to see a licensed physician who is a cannabis prescriber. You will then be able to discuss what your needs are and why you think cannabis would be a good treatment option for you. After the physician makes an evaluation, you can be granted a license on the spot, he explained.
Though anyone of legal age can purchase recreationally at Theory Wellness, having a medical marijuana license can be beneficial to customers for a variety of reasons.
“It certainly has its benefits for those who are looking to use cannabis medicinally. From everything to not paying a 20 percent sales tax, to not having to wait in line and you get expedited service to come into the shop to get access to your products with no wait time, there’s also higher dosing levels on certain categories of products like edibles – your overall limits are much higher on the medical side compared to the limits on the recreational side,” said Winstanley.
Theory Wellness notes they pride themselves on having a team of well-educated staff members who are trained to be able to help customers find the right products for them. The store is able to handle everything from new users to experienced cannabis connoisseurs. The medicinal addition also added five new jobs in Chicopee, bringing the location up to about 60-65 staff members.
Winstanley emphasized the importance of spending time on education for their team.
“Our operation as a whole has the mentality where we want to help define the future of what cannabis can be in a social landscape. We want to help define the future of cannabis as avid enthusiasts. We want to bring that into reality,” he said. “What that means for us is a very welcoming retail environment with knowledgeable staff that can provide guidance for any type of visitor, whether it’s somebody who’s been struggling with PTSD and needs some way to stay asleep at night, or the little old lady who wants to try the novelty of cannabis because it was always illegal. We want to help bridge the gap between treatment and needs for our patients.”
Theory Wellness closed in March due to the pandemic, but reopened again in May. They are now open regular hours to the public, however they do encourage customers to place pre-orders online if possible.
Though sales of alcohol skyrocketed across the country during COVID, Winstanley said it is difficult to tell if the pandemic has caused an increase in their cannabis sales. He did note that they saw an initial, substantial rush when they first reopened in May and are now happy with the pace the company now has.
With cannabis dispensaries popping up in many Western Massachusetts towns such as Holyoke, Springfield, Westfield, and Easthampton, Theory Wellness is well-aware of their competition.
“Full transparency: we know that there’s a lot of competition, we know that it’s a crowded marketplace, but most of the time we’re much more focused not on what everybody else is doing, but on making sure we’re getting what we’re doing as right as possible,” said Winstanley.
Theory focuses on their branding, education material, design, and the flow of the store to set themselves apart from others.
“Everything kind of comes back to this point of what does cannabis look to us? And it’s a question that we ask ourselves, it’s a question that we ask our patients and consumers, and we actively take that information and build our operation based on those answers.”
If you would like to know more about Theory Wellness and their recreational or medicinal sales, you can visit their website at theorywellness.org or at their Chicopee location at 672 Fuller Rd.