Estevan's business community is welcoming another member.
Moonlit Cannabis, a Carlyle retailer, chose the Energy City for its second location.
The store soft-opened at 126 Fourth Street in mid-June and is inviting the community to join them for the grand opening July 17.聽
Owners Shane and Ashley Valentine started exploring the expansion opportunities shortly after they opened their first store in Carlyle in September 2020, bringing their long-term idea to fruition.
The Mercury spoke to Shane Valentine about their business and the decision to come to Estevan.聽
"My wife and I, we've talked about it for quite a while. Seeing legalization in the States, and then it coming to Canada, we knew it was a matter of time before we were able to get something going," Valentine said.
"It was a long process, though. Dealing with SLGA (Saskatchewan Liquor and Gaming Authority), they're great to deal with, but they had never dealt with opening up a cannabis location in a small town before. So once we were able to get through a couple of hoops, it was good. And then once we're rolling in Carlyle, we've started checking out other locations and then saw that Estevan had a second permit that they were able to give out. We applied for it and we were able to get it, so we're happy to be able to open up here too."
The decision to come to Estevan was made in December 2020. Over the last half a year, Valentine put in a lot of work to make the new store look great and be convenient for the customers. The business sourced the renovation materials locally, and also had a few Estevan companies helping them fix up the building.
"I was happy to be able to use guys from Estevan because then we can get the word spread in that way too," Valentine said.
The new store opened on June 18. It has front and rear access for customers, and while what they offer is regulated, they still have a wide variety.
"We can offer anything that any other store can. And we've actually found out we're able to offer more than some because we're independent. So we can supply from everybody, all the SLGA-approved guys. It's nice that way. Like if we've got a customer wanting something that we don't have, we can source it out from other reps and then can get it back for the customer in the long run," Valentine said.
He added that drinks are becoming a more popular alternative for a weekend activity, and they also are bringing in products for the beginners or those who had a break, as well as craft connoisseurs, all of which will add to a broad choice of different products offered at Moonlit Cannabis.聽
The Valentines had to do a lot of research along the way, but the entire business still remains a learning curve for the family.
"We do a lot of homework at night, trying to figure out what products people will want. Customers that are coming in, some of them know what they want, some of them don't. So it's nice both ways. Guys who know what they want, we either (have it) or we can source it out if we don't have it. And with people who don't know what they want, we can walk them through and figure out what they're looking for," Valentine noted.
The first few weeks weren't very busy, but the owners hope it will pick once the word gets out. Moonlit Cannabis will be in walking distance for southeast Estevan residents, but the delivery option makes their coverage go much further.聽
"We're able to deliver to any of the surrounding communities. We can deliver or put in the mail. We've had people from Regina and Lumsden ordering product, so we'll ship that to them in the mail. And then I would say within an hour to an hour and a half of Estevan and Carlyle, those are the areas we want to cover," Valentine said.
The Carlyle store employs five people, and there will be five or six positions at the new store to cover the longer operating hours.
The Estevan location is open from 10 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Saturday, and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Sunday.
All their product can be found at moonlitcannabis.net, which offers an online shopping option for pickup or delivery.
