Fourth pot shop in Pullman may open next month

Kush 21, Pullman’s newest pot shop, could be open for business as soon as July 1, the store’s manager told the Daily News.

Located just across Grand Avenue from Dissmore’s IGA, Kush 21 will be the city’s fourth marijuana retailer and the first not clustered on the 1300 block of Southeast Bishop Boulevard.

Initially, that area was among the only sites in the city where marijuana stores could locate and still meet state laws limiting how close the stores could be to places such as schools and parks; those buffer zones have since changed.

Pullman – which the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board has allowed a total of five shops within city limits – still has one slot left.

The fifth retailer, Magic Tree LLC, plans to set up a shop at 350 Northeast Stadium Way in an office space on the ground floor of the grain elevator behind Evergreen Tire, just across the street from Kush 21.

That store will be the last one in the Pullman area to open. Whitman County was also allocated two stores in addition to Pullman’s five, which are already open and located on State Route 270 between Pullman and Moscow.

General Manager Gabe Haulk, 25, said Kush 21’s next hurdle will be passing an inspection from the LCB.

“We’re really just looking at the LCB and getting inspected. The inside is pretty much all done. We just have to put the counters in,” Haulk said. “Our construction crews are saying that once the siding goes on that’s pretty much the last thing we need as far as the building itself.”

As for the adjoining carport that once housed a local car wash, Haulk said they hope to tear it down and raise a new building in its place.

He said if they are barred from doing so, they may just fix it up and tear out the walls separating the ports to make a covered outdoor patio.

“There is some laws on what we can and can’t do to an existing property,” Haulk said. “If we can’t tear it down, we’ll probably just open it up and turn it into a community get-together space.”

Haulk said they will be seeking local long-term employees in the coming days, but some existing staff from the other stores will help with the initial open.

He said the Seattle-based cannabis retailer has two other locations in Washington, but the Pullman store will be their first shop on the eastern side of the state.

“We saw the college town here, we saw that Pullman appears to be nice and growing, and we just kind of wanted to hop on the bandwagon of the construction everyone’s building up,” Haulk said. “This just seems to be like a growing town and a growing market.”

Haulk said a major concern with being new business owners to the block is how to be good neighbors, especially when it comes to parking.

He said he knows from experience how busy the shops can get and hopes to minimize their impact on other nearby businesses.

Beyond parking concerns, Haulk said their reception has been mostly positive.

“There’s always concern with certain community groups when new shops are moving in,” Haulk said. “As far as anyone local, we haven’t had anyone come to complain to us. We’ve had a couple people actually come and thank us for cleaning up the building a little bit.”

Haulk said he is looking forward to relocating from Seattle.

“I’m excited to move out to Pullman,” Haulk said. “I’ve been here to see it a quite a few times, and it’s a beautiful area.”