California Medical Pot Growing Emporium Opening In Sacramento
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (CBS13) -- CBS13 takes you behind closed doors to get a look at a new business opening up in Sacramento that's being called the "Wal-Mart of Weed," and they're hoping to make the city the new cannabis capital.
KOVR's Mike Dello Stritto was in Arden-Arcade late Thursday night where workers at the weGrow hydroponics warehouse were getting ready for their grand opening on Saturday.
Non-stop preps for 10,000 square feet of medical pot products are underway. They say it'll be the biggest business of its kind in northern California.
But they're not selling pot at weGrow.
"We do not sell any medical marijuana here," said Mike Garcia, a spokesman for the store.
But it's there – you can see it, and smell it.
"It's just here for display, nothing in here blooms," said Garcia.
They're scraping together everything you need for weed at weGrow, which calls itself "The First Honest Hydro Store."
Garcia said the store offers "the different levels of how to grow your medical cannabis," from fertilizer to getting the finished products, and everything in-between.
There are products like "Big Bud" and "Bud Candy." Then there's "Piranha" and "Tarantula," pot plant food, both of which will take a big bite out of your wallet at a cost of $327.42.
In fact, the products are so high-end, they expect to see a lot of organic farmers come there to seek out ways to help grow their more traditional crops.
But it's not exactly the type of store that neighbors thought would move into the vacant Fulton Ave. warehouse.
"We went and met all the neighbors. We haven't had anyone say that, 'Hey, we don't want you here,'" said Garcia.
But some residents said they weren't sure what exactly to expect.
"He didn't go that detailed with it," said business owner Vartan Gilian.
Some neighbors said they felt misled about what's opening next door, and they're worried about opening the door to trouble.
"It's gonna bring a lot of lunatic, crazy people," said Gilian. "It's gonna change the neighborhood quite a bit."
With sparks already, there might be some things to smooth over. But weGrow hopes to grow on its neighbors, while bringing a boost to the economy.
"We believe this is gonna have a tremendous economic impact on Sacramento," said Garcia.
But besides the economic impact, they just want to have a positive impact. In fact, come grand opening on Saturday, not just the usual suspects were invited. Elected leaders, the sheriffs department, and even the fire department were asked to come drop in.
In coming months, weGrow plans to open stores in Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey and Oregon.
The enterprise started in Oakland last year as a warehouse store called iGrow.
Pot isn't sold or grown at the store. In the past, hydroponics outlets have avoided any mention of marijuana because pot cultivation is illegal under federal law. But hydroponics stores have exploded as states approve medical marijuana use.
