Long-awaited cannabis store opens in Fresno’s Tower District. Another has new owner

It’s tough to nail down an exact job title for Miguel Negrete.

Officially, he’s the manager at Beyond Rooted, the new cannabis dispensary that opened on Fulton and Belmont avenues last week. He’s also the master grower at G7 Farms, the Fresno-based grower and store affiliate, which supplies much of the in-house product line (at a low price point — $15 for an eighth, taxes included — for first timers).

But over the last three years, he’s done just about every kind of work to get the shop ready to open.

“This is a family owned business from start to finish,” Negrete says.

So, everyone throws in when its time to get things done.

“If we gotta dig ditches, we’re going to dig ditches. If we gotta wax floors, we’re going to wax floors.”

Those floors are a swirl of purple, green and silver epoxy, freshly done for Beyond Rooted’s soft opening last Thursday. Another soft-opening event happens on Saturday.

The store, located at 845 E. Belmont Ave., is planning a full-on block party for its proper grand opening sometime in October. That will coincide with the cannabis harvest and fresh product from G7 Farms, Negrete says.

The business all of it, from the farm down to the dispensary, is something the family has dreamed about and been working toward, collectively, for almost a decade, Negrete says.

His cousin, Issac Fonseca, owns and runs the dispensary, with backing from former major league (and Fresno State) pitcher Matt Garza. He was one of the original names mentioned when the city’s Office of Cannabis Oversight released its list of prospective cannabis businesses in 2021. He’s also a cousin.

Former nightclub owner and Fresno music supporter, Fred Martinez is also involved. He’s not blood related, but he’s been a family friend long enough to be “Uncle Fred,” around the shop.

Side note: Club Fred’s iconic wall mural is being relocated to the store.

The name, Beyond Rooted, comes from the family’s relationship with agriculture and farming, says Garza, who stopped by for a tour of the shop on Thursday.

“Our parents were farm workers,” he says.

“We came from the roots.”

A dispensary for South Tower

The dispensary is situated on the southern edge of the Tower District, just north of downtown in a building visibly marked by its history. See: the neon 7-Up sign on the roof, which recently got a paint job and is undergoing a restoration. The building was once a grocery store, but had seen any number of tenants recently, including a tattoo shop and a bontanic gift shop.

It’s in an overlooked area that was, at one time, Fresno’s main drag, says Fonseca, whose father runs a long-time auto body shop just down Belmont Avenue.

“I can throw stones, as to where I grew up,” he says. “I know Belmont.”

He sees it as ripe for re-invigoration, especially this stretch sandwiched the Tower District and downtown with people “ping-ponging back and forth.”

And the dispensary isn’t the only recent development here. A block away, the old Athletic Designs building has been renovated and broken up into several commercial spaces with a music venue and practice studios in back.

Artist Tree opens location on Shaw Avenue

Beyond Rooted is one of two new dispensaries in Fresno.

The Artist Tree, which along with Embarc ushered legal weed in the city three years ago this month, opens its second location July 18.

A grand opening happens noon to 6 p.m. July 26 at the 3,000-square foot showroom in the West Acres Shopping Center at 3257 W. Shaw Ave., just east of Marks Avenue. Like the original shop, the dispensary will feature the same high end fixtures, top-shelf products and museum-like atmosphere, according to the company.

Like the Palm Avenue location, the dispensary will also function as an art gallery. It’s opening exhibit will feature works by Fresno artists Jamie Roberts, Jakob Jimenez and Amanda Gutierrez.

This brings the number of dispensaries in Fresno to 15 of the 21 available commercial cannabis licenses, according to the city of Fresno. That puts at least one in each of the seven city council districts, with a relative concentration in District 4.

Those shops sit in close proximity along the Blackstone corridor.

Sweet Flower gets new owners

At least one dispensary, Sweet Flower, is temporarily closed.

That’s according to a notice in the window of the store, which opened last year in a strip mall on Maroa and Shields avenue alongside the since-moved El Premio Mayor taqueria and A-1 Liquors.

According to the city, Sweet Flower has gone through a change of ownership, which is allowed during the permit renewal process that happens each year, per Fresno’s municipal code.

Higher Level, a dispensary on Blackstone Avenue near Gettsyburg, went through a similar ownership change last year (and not without some controversy, as reported by the website SVJ Sun). The store is now owned by The Premier Group, which operates a dozen dispensaries across the state.

Sweet Flower sits within a pocket of residential neighborhoods near Fresno City College and serves both the Tower District and Fig Garden. Messages to the company were not immediately returned, but all mention of the Fresno location has been removed from its website and social media for the store seems to have disappeared.

It is unclear if or when the store will reopen and whether it will keep the Sweet Flower name, though there is some speculation among users on Reddit.

This story was originally published July 11, 2025 at 5:00 AM.