PROVINCETOWN—Hennep Cannabis Dispensary is the third adult-use marijuana retail store to open in town, following Curaleaf and Bwell openings last year.
The shop at 246 Commercial Street had a soft opening over the weekend, and officially opened Monday, May 3.
“The beach, cannabis and lovely people, you don’t get a better combo than that,” owner Andrew Koudijs said at the store Monday.
Hennep, the Dutch word for cannabis, offers cannabis flower, pre-rolls, vaporizers, concentrates, edibles, tinctures and topicals, according to a company press release.
The business currently has eight employees, with five more in the process of being registered, Colin Noel, the operations manager, said Monday.
Koudijs, 24, started working on the business with Noel, also 24, while they were students at Boston University, after they attended a panel discussion on the cannabis industry. Both were fascinated by the plant and inspired by the “right timing” with the 2016 legalization of recreational cannabis use in the state. The pair then spent their free time at school planning the shop.
When deciding where to open the business, the first place Koudijs thought of was Provincetown.
“I came here as a little child with my mom and her partner,” he said. He remembered the community’s family weeks and the sea camps he attended.
“I love the way the town made me feel as a child, accepting other families like mine,” Koudijs said. “Growing up, that didn’t exist in my town.”
Koudijs earned a bachelor’s degree in advertising last year and Noel graduated from the university’s business school in 2019. Koudijs moved to Provincetown full-time last winter.
Last year was also when the business received its provisional license from the state. It took another year to finish the process.
“It was a crawling process,” Koudijs said. “But it’s a really rewarding process.”
Hennep is different than the other local dispensaries, in part, because of the fresh perspective on marijuana retail, he said.
“In terms of marketing, I think we have a little bit of a different approach,” Koudijs said. The shop’s signs and packaging are by Koudijs. The three kiosk counters are designed to have customers see familiar faces each time they come in.
“I think that intimate experience with the consumers is good,” Koudijs said.
Down the road, the partners plan to make their own products.
“It’s something we’ll definitely be working on this summer,” Noel said.
The store will open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with both business partners available to greet and assist customers. Their website www.hennep.com will also include a chat feature for online consultation, according to the press release.
