PHILLIPSBURG, N.J. – The first month of legal marijuana sales in New Jersey exceeded $24 million.
“Our top performing item, for sure, is our soft lozenges,” said Carlos Gamez, the general manager at The Apothecarium.
On any given day, The Apothecarium in Phillipsburg is packed, yet efficient.
“There’s long lines, little wait time,” said Gamez. “We will always prioritize our patients first.”
“When we were in a medical market, we saw about 100 patients, on a good day,” said Chantelle Elsner, a senior vice president of retail at TerrAscend, which owns The Apothecarium. “So we’re seeing five to ten times plus our usual patient base.”
That foot traffic, and New Jersey’s entire marijuana industry, continues to grow.
The state Cannabis Regulatory Commission recently approved more cultivators and manufacturers, and five new store locations.
But as of now, The Apothecarium remains the only one selling recreational products within an hour of P-burg.
“Right now, you’re looking at about a 60% out-of-state ratio with 40% locals,” said Gamez about sales at the Phillipsburg store.
It’s no secret that not everyone was on board with adult use being legalized, for a variety of reasons. 69 News checked in with the Mayor of Phillipsburg to see if there have been any issues, but he says so far, everything has been working out well.
Mayor Todd Tersigni said, “The Apothecarium has been working with the police department and the mayor’s office. They are stakeholders in the community and we’re a business-friendly town. We’re glad to have them in our community.”
Visitors for neighboring businesses could increase, as The Apothecarium’s plan is to have longer hours of operation.
TerrAscend says with record sales, it’s easy to add to the hundreds of products already on the menu.
“We have not run out of product,” said Elsner. “If anything, we’ve released more products to the market. We just recently released our crumble concentrates.”
The company says Kind Tree Liquid Live Resin Vape Cartridges and Kind Tree Live Resin Crumble are the first ever concentrates on the market in the Garden State.
“Every two weeks, we have different launches of new strains and new products coming in,” said Gamez.
TerrAscend also owns a store in Maplewood, and will soon be opening another in Lodi, which will have a drive-through.
“As the market continues to grow, they will be more competitors,” said Elsner. “But that also brings a lot of new products, and a lot more options for customers and patients.”
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