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Several cannabis retail stores have been approved by New Jersey to open this year. NJ Cannabis Insider is putting a spotlight on these licensed cannabis businesses.
Canna Remedies NJ
Canna Remedies is a majority women-led and operated cannabis retail store committed to building community health and economic opportunity in New Jersey. The store will be at 2175 Spruce St. in Ewing.
The adult-use dispensary is driven to provide education and an elevated, concierge style customer experience while promoting responsible use. It intends to offer customers convenience and accessibility along with an active source of expert support. Canna Remedies is a social equity company under the convictions for cannabis-related offenses category.
Canna Remedies is owned by individuals who were impacted by the War on Drugs and female entrepreneurs. The founders are Monica Werkheiser, head of Operations, Victor Guadagnino, head of Strategic Planning, Joan Guadagnino, head of Business Development, Patricia Baldwin Gregory, general counsel, Lisa Rosen, head of Compliance, Larry Pachter, chief financial officer, Stephen Leo, manager, and Danny Troyak, owner.
This Q&A was answered by Werkheiser, PharmD, and edited for clarity. The store is slated to open in November. For more information, go to their website.
Canna Remedies is presenting sponsor of NJ Cannabis Insider’s summer business event.
Q: What should we know about your company?
A: The Canna Remedies team is a close-knit group of friends and family who are passionate about the pursuit of cannabis. Members of our team were proud to have been a part of owning and operating the first medical dispensary in Pennsylvania. After opening three locations in three years, those original owners exited the Pennsylvania market and began a new endeavor in New Jersey.
It is through that original venture that the Canna Remedies team was formed and has been a way to pay it forward and opened up pathways for former employees to create larger opportunities for members of the team in the cannabis industry.
Q: What is your company’s biggest challenges as you get ready to open?
A: The biggest challenge areas we have come across since winning our annual license: real estate and municipalities. The construction and development process has been tedious as we navigate the numerous agencies and departments that govern our dispensary location in Ewing. Outside of costs, paperwork is one of the largest hurdles.
Another challenge has been finding independent cultivators and manufacturers that are operational. We aspire to have a diverse product selection from large and small businesses alike but with the market still in its early stages the amount of operators remains limited.
Q: What can the market do better to help a business like yours?
A: New Jersey has done a good job of creating opportunities for operators, however, concerns still remain regarding how as operators we can be successful in an unlimited license state. Smaller operators will slowly realize that as the market matures, it will become harder to carve out their own space in the supply chain.
We need to learn from the failures within other cannabis markets to avoid an over saturation of product creating a major price compression or an over saturation of retail forcing smaller businesses out of the market.
Q: Why did you choose to get into the cannabis industry?
A: The shortcomings of our healthcare system are what drove many of our team to want to be a part of the cannabis industry. I started in the pharmaceutical industry, and it didn’t take long for me to see the physical and mental harm pharmaceuticals can cause when left unchecked.
Joan (head of Business Development) has witnessed the lack of treatments and research for rare/orphan diseases from her experience raising awareness in the nonprofit sector. Concerns such as these are what lead our team to embrace cannabis as a wellness option that could fill some of the gaps in our healthcare system.
In getting into the cannabis industry, we knew we didn’t just want to sell weed.
We want to create a space for cannabis education and personal introspection. In this manner we hope to set up our customers for a positive experience with their cannabis products and promote consumer self-care.
Q: What is your community impact plan?
A: Canna Remedies hopes to be recognized as a good neighbor and friend in the communities we serve. There are many worthy causes in the community, and we plan to help as many as we can. We intend to provide monetary donations and offer grants to a diverse field of environmental, educational, and health and human service organizations. Our management and staff will volunteer time to local organizations that focus on the well-being of children and families, seniors, and disabled veterans.
We believe our most effective impact will be implementing our cannabis workforce development and training program focusing on job creation, and educational advancement for the underprivileged.
Q: Where do you want to see the market in five years?
A: In five years, we envision a specialized and diverse supply chain that caters to the needs and preferences of the community at large.
We would like to see the relaxation of municipality moratoriums and real estate to enable the dispersion of cannabis retail locations and enhance accessibility.
Our goal is to witness cannabis being embraced and treated on par with any other consumer substance or product. Where cannabis is normalized and valued for its potential benefits and integrated seamlessly into people’s lifestyles.
NJ Cannabis Insider is a weekly subscriber-based online trade journal and events group produced by NJ Advance Media, which also publishes NJ.com, The Star-Ledger and other affiliated papers. Are you interested in the N.J. cannabis industry? Subscribe here for insider exclusives. Follow us on LinkedIn.