BATH
At an open house on Thursday afternoon, Cory King, executive director of the Southern Midcoast Maine Chamber, and members of local businesses welcomed Wellness Connection of Maine to downtown Bath.
Wellness Connection is Maine’s largest medical marijuana organization, operating four of the state’s eight dispensaries. In July, the company announced that it would be relocating its Thomaston dispensary to Bath, a more central location for many of its customers. The building they’ve renovated to house their dispensary is the former home to Gediman’s Furniture on Centre Street, which closed in 2014.
“The Wellness Connection made an investment and an improvement in Bath’s downtown by renovating this space and we have been impressed with their openness and professionalism since day one,” said King.
While no medical cannabis products were at the location Thursday, they were to be brought in this morning for their opening day. Employees were excited to finally be open for business in Bath.
“I just really love the location. I think that this is probably one of the best areas we could be in — super convenient to the Brunswick area, super convenient to the Midcoast. It’s the perfect place,” said member liaison Lenore Parsons. “I’m excited to start building relationships with our local community.”
“I’m really excited to be part of this community,” added dispensary manager Craig Letowski, who was the manager in Thomaston for three years. “Everybody’s been very welcoming so far.”
While some clients in Thomaston were disappointed by the move, Letowski believes many more are excited by the move. To help accommodate those in the Thomaston area, the company is providing delivery of their product to those members “to lessen the sting.”
While Letowski said that everyone he has talked to in Bath has been supportive of the dispensary, he admitted that many people have questions about what they do.
“We are part of an industry that certainly is taboo to a lot of people still and we’re working on that image of ours. And I think that the challenge lies in coming into a new community and convincing them that our intentions are purely good and we’re here to help people in need and not here to supply some sort of lifestyle they find undesirable,” said Letowski.
Patricia Rosi, CEO of Wellness Connection of Maine, said that she has reached out to business organizations in the area to answer any questions or concerns. In his remarks during the ribbon-cutting ceremony, King applauded the organization for its transparency and openness to questions.
“Thank you everybody for welcoming us to this community. Really, Bath has been nothing but welcoming,” said Rosi. “We’re looking forward to getting involved in this community.”
nstrout@timesrecord.com
Maine’s largest
• WELLNESS Connection is Maine’s largest medical marijuana organization, operating four of the state’s eight dispensaries. The building they’ve renovated to house their dispensary in Bath is the former home to Gediman’s Furniture on Centre Street, which closed in 2014.
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