First Fresno cannabis dispensary opens. City councilmember is first official customer
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to reflect that two dispensaries claim they were first to open in Fresno.
Fresno got its first dispensary where customers can walk in and buy legal weed products on Monday morning.
Embarc opened its doors on Gettysburg and Blackstone avenues before 7 a.m. to its first official customer, Councilmember Miguel Arias, who was chairperson of the city’s Cannabis Committee.
He said the city has gone through a long and slow process to make room for cannabis retailers in Fresno, the fifth largest city in the state and the biggest to not have any weed stores before Monday.
The Artist Tree dispensary also opened on Monday at Palm and Nees avenues, staking its own claim to being first.
It has taken about five years since retail weed was allowed in Fresno for bureaucrats to work out all the details and regulations, making way for the stores.
So the openings were an important occasion. “We took our time; some would say too long of a time,” Arias said. “As the largest city to not have cannabis sales, it’s a huge deal.”
The city estimates about $10 million a year in revenue from weed retailers once all of them open up. The city’s regulations allow up to three in each council district.
Embarc dispensary opens in Fresno
Owner Lauren Carpenter said the shop was originally set to open Wednesday but her staff was champing at the bit.
“I checked with my team yesterday and they said they wanted to be open,” she said. “They wanted to make history.”
The store carries a diverse product that includes about half of those made by companies that are run by woman, LGBTQ owners, veterans, small farmers and other groups, she said.
Born and raised in Sacramento, Carpenter said she knows what it’s like to live in inland California. And those are the customers she’s aiming to supply.
“(We) seek to create an inclusive culture that is high-end enough that it’s able to feel comfortable for everyone,” she said. “But, I’m careful not to skew exclusive.”
The shop on Monday had what one would expect at a dispensary — edibles, vapes, drinks and flower. Each nugget of weed is held in a box with a button that allows shoppers to smell the strain.
Carpenter said her staff is diverse in ethnicity and ranges from 20-somethings to grandparents. She partners with United Food and Commercial Workers so her employees can unionize and make livable wages, she said.
Embarc also has locations in Fairfield, Alameda, Martinez and South Lake Tahoe.
Dispensary regulations
The city has also put a number of security and other standards on weed businesses that are not required of any other small retailer. Arias said he wanted his first visit to also be a time to check that the retailer lived up to its promises.
“It’s exactly what was portrayed to us,” Arias said. “It’s the Apple (Store) experience in that it is clean, it’s modern and it has safety and security.”
Marijuana has been legal for medical purposes in the state since the passage or Prop. 215 in 1996 and for recreational purposes since Prop. 64 passed in 2016.
Fresno’s leaders have fought over it since then, but the overwhelming majority have now gotten behind it.
The first couple of days at Embarc are something of a soft open with unusual hours, but beginning Wednesday the shop will be open every day from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., the owner says.
It’s at 4592 N. Blackstone Ave. 559-420-7999. goembarc.com.
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 9:51 AM.
