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September 16, 2021

Acreage Holdings relocating Bethel cannabis dispensary to Danbury amid rebranding

Acreage Holdings Acreage Holdings' The Botanist dispensary in Worcester, Mass.
By Sam Bonacci

Acreage Holdings will soon relocate its Bethel dispensary, Compassionate Care Center of Connecticut, to the former Webster Bank location at 105 Mill Plain Road in Danbury, expanding the medical dispensary while setting the groundwork for possible integration of recreational sales in the future. Acreage acquired the dispensary in 2018.

The move will grow the medical dispensary by 1,100 square feet and be “a total game changer” by modernizing the experience, according to Carl Tirella, Acreage Holdings’s general manager in Connecticut. Tirella said the Danbury location is scheduled to open by the end of 2021's third quarter.

“We outgrew the current facility that we are at in Bethel,” he said of the move, which has been in the works for about two years. “We’re operating in a 1,400-square-foot residential house. It’s a disservice to our patients and employees.”

At the same time, Acreage is bringing all three Connecticut sites under The Botanist brand, aligning the dispensaries with other Acreage stores throughout the Northeast. The rebranding will cover the soon-to-be relocated Compassionate Care Center of Connecticut as well as Prime Wellness of Connecticut in Windsor and Thames Valley Relief of Unacasville.

With the rebranding and Danbury relocation, the company is preparing for the future. The new location will maintain its focus on medical cannabis for now, but Tirella said Acreage aims to create vertical integration whenever possible, meaning the company wants to produce and sell its own cannabis. In some of the 12 states in which Acreage operates, it's co-located recreational sales with medical where it has licenses to do so. 

“We’ve always wanted to prepare for the recreational space,” he said. “Having that facility already is going to be a key advantage for us.”

By co-locating, the company is able to bring the consultation it does with medical patients to its recreational customers, said Tirella.

“We have pharmacists on staff and dispensary technicians on staff that are quite knowledgeable in terms of use cases, regiments and all those types of things,” he said.

However, Danbury has placed an up to 12 month moratorium on recreational sales. This will allow the town to examine recreational sales and digest the new state law, said Tirella who explained Acreage hopes to be a partner in the process.

The Danbury dispensary will retain staff currently at the Bethel location. If recreational sales are incorporated at the location, there would be opportunities for additional hires, he said.

The Danbury location has received a certificate of occupancy from the city, and now must pass a final inspection by the state Department of Consumer Protection before opening, Tirella said.
 

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