By Camille Aubin
[email protected]
During a public hearing held on Jan. 13, members of the council of Radium Hot Springs and public members were able to ask questions and learn about the second Blooming World Cannabis retail store application in the area. Downtown Invermere already has its own branch of the store.
In advance of the public hearing, council received 10 letters on the matter that were all in support of the application. Most of those letters described Blooming World Cannabis as professional and being an asset to the community. One pointed out that “the highway will become safer since local people who use cannabis will not need to travel to Invermere in order to buy those products.”
Owner Olivier Hogue, in his presentation, said that one of the main reasons he thought of opening a second branch in Radium is that he’s aware of numerous customers who drive from Radium to downtown Invermere to buy Blooming World’s products. He added that the abundance of cars passing Radium during the tourist high season is a good indicator of the potential for profitable business for the well-known local company.
“I observed the customer traffic from outside and note that they appeared to serve a very wide range of people and a good cross-section of our community including seniors, professionals, visitors as well as pet owners like myself looking for effective, low harm canine pain management,” wrote Elizabeth Farthing, who is the landlord of the retail space in Radium that Blooming World hopes to set up shop in.
Marjorie Fournier, Blooming World’s general manager, explained the phenomenon of a diverse clientele, saying that “There is now a large selection of non-smoking cannabis products available, such as edibles, drinks, cream and oil, that are attracting a different clientele.”
At the first public hearing in Invermere two years ago, 45 people attended the meeting. “It was a big deal back then,” said Hogue. The public then expressed concern about the potential for an increase in smoking, smell around the store and town, as well as a potential rise in crime. Now that the time has passed, the misconceptions from the public are gone, he said. “There was some concerns mentioned at our first public hearing, and we are happy to say that we did not have any incidents in the 2 years we have been opened.” mentioned Fournier to the Pioneer.
Later that night, a formal council meeting was held, and the application was the first item on the agenda. Councillor Mike Gray made a motion to recommend approval without condition to the provincial government and all council members were in favor.
“We are awaiting approval from the provincial government. We are hoping to open the store at 7535 Main Street West in the spring,” said Hogue.
If the provincial government’s final approval is given, the Blooming World Cannabis in Radium will create three full-time jobs in Radium.
