South Whidbey’s second recreational marijuana retailer opened its doors to the public this week.
Island Herb is owned by a veteran of the South Whidbey marijuana business scene, Lucas Jushinski.
He owns Island Alternative Medicine in Freeland, the first medical dispensary to open on Whidbey, in 2012. The old storefront used by Island Alternative Medicine is where Island Herb is located.
An Iraq War veteran and combat corpsman honorably discharged from the Navy in 2008, Jushinski said his focus is providing a medical service to those who need the herb for medicinal purposes, much like himself.
He said a portion of his profits are reinvested into organizations he believes in, including the Veterans Resource Center.
With the forced closing of medical dispensaries throughout the state due to Washington Initiative 502, which is slated to go into effect at the end of June, Jushinski said he had no other option than to tap into the recreational market to continue serving the medical marijuana community.
“Although there is another recreational store in Bayview, I’m currently serving a different community than their clientele base — the medical community,” Jushinski said.
“I’ll still have that clientele base here at Island Herb.”
When Jushinski started Island Alternative Medicine years ago, he didn’t anticipate how popular the store would be.
“I was surprised how many people came in, I just didn’t have any idea the demand was so high,” he said. “Cannabis has been illegal for so many years and many people have been hiding their cannabis use during that time, but we are starting to see people come out of the closet, so to speak.”
That seems to be the general consensus as well, as demand is higher than one would expect, even getting seemingly higher by the week, according to the store’s general manager, Carly Houghton.
Data on competitor Whidbey Island Cannabis Co.’s monthly sales support, provided by www.502data.com, a private website that uses numbers supplied by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board, show sales improved monthly since opening in late 2014.
Other than one-off slow months like January 2016 and June 2015, with sales finishing at $116,761 for February and $122,240 in March 2016.
Jushinski said he’s confident his years of experience within the medical dispensary scene will make the transition to the recreational marijuana scene smooth and competitive.
Jushinski said Island Herb will offer some different products to customers, including a wider selection of vaporizers and locally blown glass, or paraphernalia.
“Since many people within the medical community actually don’t like smoking, we will have a large selection of vaporizers to choose from,” Jushinski said.
To compete, Jushinski said he hopes to create a warm, cozy and welcoming environment for customers.
The storefront features large, sleek couches and a massive coffee table that gives the store a distinct living room vibe.
Jushinski said he wants to create a shop that carries the highest quality cannabis for customers.
With business at Island Alternative Medicine strong over the past few years, Jushinski expressed confidence that Island Herb will be even better as marijuana becomes less and less taboo and legally accessible.
“My main concern is whether or not I’m meeting the community’s needs,” Jushinski said. “Am I meeting that goal?”
“Yes. Regarding finances, yes, we’ve been doing well and I’ve been able to continue giving back to the community by reinvesting in the organizations I believe in.”
Island Herb, is in Freeland at 5565 Vanbarr Place, Unit F. Doors open at 11 a.m.
