Ephrata pot store delays opening
Grant County's only licensed retail marijuana store in Ephrata has yet to open due to a lack of product.
EPHRATA - Just a handful of retail marijuana stores opened its doors Tuesday across the state. Ephrata's High Time Station, included in Monday's group of licensed locations through the Liquor Control board, delayed its opening with the owner unable to find product to sell.
Rick Reimers' store on Basin Street Northwest is all but ready to open but the shelves sat empty Tuesday.
He said he's had trouble finding a licensed marijuana processor that has product available. Reimers converted a section of his second-hand thrift store, Urban Archeologists, into a pot shop.
Reimers said he has called as many processors as he can but the state Liquor Control Board has yet to supply retailers with a list of approved vendors. As soon as he can find product to sell, Reimers said the store will officially open. He's hoping to carry as many varieties of pot as he can once the supply catches up.
He added he's heard other retail store owners already had contracts in place with processors.
Just 73 processor licenses have been issued as of Tuesday, only about 4 percent of the more than 1,900 applicants, according to the Liquor Control Board. Just 87 growers licenses out of 2,600 application have been approved.
On Monday, the Liquor Control Board issued the first 24 retailer licenses in the state.
Reimers said he began asking customers of his second-hand store in November for their input on opening a marijuana store. Reimers, who does not smoke marijuana, said he's received mostly positive reactions from the community thus far.