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Syracuse, N.Y. — A shop in the heart of the Marshall Street business district near Syracuse University will host a “growers showcase” offering legal marijuana for sale this fall.
The showcase will be upstairs from the J. Michael’s Shoes clothing shop at 171 Marshall St. It starts at 4:20 p.m. Friday (Sept. 29), and will run through Dec. 31. Hours are still being worked out, but it could be open daily through the end of the year.
It will offer legal and lab-tested marijuana products, ranging from flower, to pre-rolls, edibles, vapes and drinks, from a variety of New York state-licensed growers and processors who will have space in the shop.
The opening of the showcase comes just a week after the city of Syracuse shut down two other businesses on Marshall Street that had been cited by the state for violating the law by selling marijuana without the proper licenses.
The showcase is a partnership between J. Michael’s owner John Michael Vavalo and Mike Flynn, owner of Flynnstoned Cannabis Co. in Armory Square.
Vavalo is also owner of Central Processors NY, a state-licensed marijuana cultivator with a greenhouses in Cicero and a processing facility near Hancock Airport. Its products are sold wholesale under the High Peaks Cannabis brand.
Flynn’s Armory Square shop is the Syracuse area’s first legal marijuana retail shop, or dispensary. It opened in June.
The state’s Cannabis Control Board this summer authorized the growers showcases as a way to get legal marijuana products to market as the statewide roll-out of legal marijuana continues to be hampered by delays. The most recent delay came through a temporary court injunction prohibiting the opening of new shops. There are currently just 23 dispensaries operating across New York state.
“Our hope is to cycle through a lot of different cultivators, giving them a chance to sell high quality products,” said Vavalo, who has experienced the limited market for his own products.
“We have greenhouse high-quality flower, the best flower on the market, I think,” Vavalo said. “This is an opportunity for us and other cultivators and processors to show what we have.”
Legal marijuana will be sold this fall at a licensed growers showcase above J. Michael’s Shoes at 171 Marshall St. near Syracuse University. (Screen shot from Google maps)
This is Flynn’s second growers showcase. He also operated a temporary showcase just down State Fair Boulevard from the state fairgrounds during the run of the 2023 fair.
Products sold at the growers showcases are inspected and tested just as those sold at legal dispensaries. They are also subject to the same state taxes.
Prices for the various products will be the same as at the Flynnstoned shop at 219 Walton St., Flynn said. When it opened, Flynnstoned was selling marijuana flower for up to $50 for 1/8 of an ounce (3.5 grams)
Vavalo, the “J. Michael” of the shoe store’s name, is excited to bring something new to Marshall Street. His family opened the shoe store in 1983, one year after he was born.
“Who would have thought when we opened 40 years ago that we would now be selling cannabis above J. Michaels?” he said.
Vavalo, who is also on the board of the University area business district, said he also applauds the state and city for its actions to shut down the shops selling illicit weed.
“It’s great for us as processors, and for the retailers, that the city is taking this action,” he said. “It really highlights the need for the high quality, tested products that we have.”
Don Cazentre writes for NYup.com, syracuse.com and The Post-Standard. Reach him at dcazentre@nyup.com, or follow him at NYup.com, on Twitter or Facebook.