Fine Fettle, a growing medical marijuana dispensary, has submitted applications to convert two of its shops into hybrid retail establishments, which would allow it to sell both medical and recreational cannabis, company officials confirmed to Hartford Business Journal.
According to Fine Fettle’s Chief Operating Officer Benjamin Zachs, hybrid license applications have already been submitted for the company’s Newington and Willimantic locations. The company is still waiting on hybrid zoning approval in Stamford for its newest location, which opened last month, but when that happens the company plans to submit an application there as well.
Zachs said the state’s regulations on product inventory make it easier for companies like Fine Fettle to convert its facilities compared to other states. Connecticut doesn’t require hybrid dispensaries to have two separate inventories – one for medical customers and another for retail customers – which quells supply issues companies have had in other states when converting to a hybrid model.
“We could be up and running tomorrow,” Zachs said, adding that Fine Fettle has the supply for these hybrid facilities ready to go.
Late last year the company received approvals from Newington and Windham planning and zoning commissions to convert its two existing dispensaries into a hybrid model.
Zachs said his company is still finalizing details about potential social equity partnerships but it has a “team” of social equity applicants it’s planning to work with.
When converted to a hybrid model, each Fine Fettle dispensary will have between 15 and 25 employees, Zachs said.
On Feb. 21, Fine Fettle opened its third medical cannabis dispensary in the state, a 5,200-square-foot facility at 12 Research Drive, Stamford. The company was originally awarded a license by the state Department of Consumer Protection for a new dispensary in Storrs, but it requested to change the location to Stamford.
Fine Fettle owns three of the state’s 18 licensed medical marijuana dispensaries. The company was founded in Connecticut but has since spread to other states, including cultivation, processing and retail businesses in Massachusetts and a processing facility in Rhode Island. Fine Fettle also has acquired a license to operate in Georgia.