Where once there were seven dispensaries in Iosco County, four in East Tawas and at one point three here in O-Town, only three remain. The first to go was Inspire at F-41 and Cedar Lake Rd. Wasn't around all that long. Perhaps the most surprising closing was The Botanical in East Tawas. In fact Johnny had placed an order to pick up the next day and was met with a CLOSED sign at Botanical. Probably the saddest closing. The first retail cannabis shop here and the only one who'd accept debit or credit cards was gone. This spring brought the end of two more cannabis shops in East Tawas, Heritage Provisioning and High Level Health who have bailed on Iosco County and kept their Arenac County Omer store open. There were signs these two shops were on shaky ground as construction materials began taking up space in their parking lots. In fact the Heritage Provisioning shop got a new parking lot for customers who are never coming.
So, now, three there are, Puff, the craft weed experience at Top Tree in Oscoda and Great Lakes Exotics in East Tawas. Quite a change for the smokers and dabbers about. What was it that caused the big heyday of marijuana in Iosco County to die off? Lack of business obviously as seven shops at one point was probably a bit much. But what was it that left Great Lakes Exotics the only one standing in East Tawas? They have a great selection but so did the others. While they each had their own special promotional products, prices on most things weren't terribly different from the others. An interesting question as to why some made it and some failed.
If you are someone interested in bringing a new dispensary to Iosco, maybe these closed shops provide a cautionary tale. If you have any insider info on the closed shops or the weed biz in the county feel free to drop a note in comments.
