By Chad Klassen

Newest pot store owner hopes to help in North Shore turnaround

Dec 18, 2018 | 3:14 PM

KAMLOOPS — The owner of the North Shore’s newest cannabis store says she wants to help turn around the neighbourhood. 

Sherry Indelicato can now move forward with her store, Blossoming Buds, on Tranquille Road at the old JJ’s Shoe Repair store after city council approved two more pot shops on Tuesday. 

“I’m excited to improve the area,” says Indelicato, who also owns K9 Designz Grooming Salon on 12th Street in Brocklehurst. “Right now, it’s a little bit sketchy. Okay, a lot sketchy, especially at night.”

The store is located next to Royal Avenue, which has been the sight of homelessness, drugs and crimes over the last couple years. But Indelicato, who lives in Brock, believes with more security around the store, it will help the entire neighbourhood. 

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“We can bring in security, better lighting, improve not only what you see but what you feel in the area. I think it’s just going to be good for the community,” she notes. 

Meantime, Beadle is the Interior regional manager with Eden, a cannabis retailer that’s been in Vancouver since 2011 and will set up shop on Victoria Street near the Noble Pig. 

“I think these stores contribute to the community more than they detract,” notes Beadle. “They do enhance security. The people who come and go into these stores, we’re all people. We all live here. It’s just a community.”

In his address to council, Beadle noted the store in Vancouver helped police with surveillance footage available during an investigation. 

But the opening of Eden may be in the distant future with a housing complex expected to be built at the corner of 6th Avenue and Victoria Street. The retailer first has to wait for final approval from the province, but also await potential demolition, which the city says would affected their location. 

“We know there’s a developer in talks with the City of Kamloops wanting to develop that property,” says the city’s business license inspector Dave Jones. “Obviously if the building gets demolished and rebuilt, then the timeline for Eden to open up will be slower.”

Jones adds, “The timeline for the developer to build a spot for these [units] is unknown at this time, so potentially it could be up to a year, it could be up to two years, or it could be that the developer may not move forward for another year, so they can open up for six months.”