There was a reason to celebrate for Grasshopper Retail Inc. this morning (July 11) as it's now the first and only legalized cannabis store open in Prince George.
The doors opened at 9 a.m. sharp, with the first two customers from Mackenzie, Melissa Eastman and Darrel Brisson, who stood in line since 8 a.m.
"We came in yesterday," Eastman said. "This is one of our reasons for coming in for the week. We just wanted to be one of the first to experience this. Being in Mackenzie, we don't have many choices."
And of course, Eastman was ecstatic to be the first one to step foot into Prince George's first legalized cannabis shop.
"Super excited," she said. "I saw nobody in line so I thought 'nope, I'm going' and we had some family in town, so we stayed with them."
Behind them was a line down the block, with people patiently waiting to get their hands on cannabis and accessories.
The owners themselves were also happy to finally be able to share their store with the city.
"Exciting," Owner and Director Derric Przysieny says. "A little scary, we don't know what today is going to bring but we think it'll be good."
There are roughly 25 types of flower inside the store as well as pre-rolls, capsules, soft gels, and oils.
As for the address (421 George St.), Przysieny says they aren't totally disappointed it didn't end up as 420.
"I think 421 brings more people talking about it than if it was just 420," he says. "People are like 'it's so close, it's just one off.'"
The store is open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily.
