120-Year-Old Berkeley Business May Become Nation's 1st Retail Cannabis Nursery
BERKELEY (KPIX) - A 120-year-old family-run Berkeley business may reopen as a first-of-its-kind retail cannabis nursery.
Back in 2014, Yabusaki's Dwight Way Nursery closed down after deaths in the family. Now there is a plan to revive the business.
Masao Yabusaki gave KPIX a tour of his shuttered family business.
It was the place to purchase and learn about Japanese Bonsai trees. His grandfather, and namesake, Masao and grandmother Tamoko operated the place since the 80's but when his aunt Emi died of cancer, Yabusaki says everything changed.
"When she passed away that's when this whole business fell apart," said Yabusaki.
Since then these gates have remained closed. Now, the 27-year-old is hoping cannabis can bring this place back to life.
"We want to transform the nursery use, we want to transform that hybridize use into something nobody's ever seen before," said Yabusaki.
On Tuesday the City Of Berkeley will decide if Yabusaki can be granted a license to sell cannabis plants here.
"We won't be selling any of the end product so no edibles here no oils no flower of the bud of any sort," said Yabusaki.
It would the first nursery of its kind in the nation. Legally adults over the age of 21 can own 6 or fewer cannabis plants.
"This family is a legacy minority-owned Berkeley business," said Berkeley City Councilmember Kriss Worthington, who supports the idea and says he thinks it'll easily sail through the approval process.
"So far, we haven't heard any council members objecting," he said.
If he's right, Yabusaki says this will once again be a place to learn about horticulture and cultivation, just on a completely new scale.
