By Chad Klassen

First private cannabis store to open Friday on the North Shore

Mar 7, 2019 | 2:06 PM

KAMLOOPS — Nearly five months after the B.C. government cannabis store opened in Kamloops — the first in B.C. — the city’s inaugural private cannabis store is set to open its doors on Friday. 

The Cannabiz Shop, located at 399 Tranquille Road, will also be the North Shore’s first legal operation, and is owned by Chris Lyth and his wife Nadine, who are thrilled to be the first private store in Kamloops.

“I think tomorrow’s an exciting day in the city where we’ll be able to open our doors and start legally selling cannabis,” said Chris, who’s been working for more than a year to open the store. 

The couple submitted an application to the province in August and were approved by city council at the end of October. More than four months later, they’ll open their doors on Friday, hoping to offer customers a different experience than the government store, both in terms of service and products, with 37 different strains of cannabis available.

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“We have quite a variety. We’ve put a lot of effort into identifying the right strains to have,” said Chris. “Obviously we don’t have as many strains as the government store, but I think we’ve got the right strains.”

Nadine added, “We don’t want to have 120 products, strains, so what we tried to do was pick the cream of the crop.”

The Lyths are also touting their selection of CBD oils and sprays and overall they feel their prices are competitive, and even better than the BC Cannabis Store in Columbia Square. 

“I would encourage people to come down and take a look, and you be the judge,” Chris said.

The Cannabiz Shop is the first of 15 private cannabis stores now approved by the City of Kamloops, but for others waiting to open, the province still has more than 400 applications on its desk. 

“I would say six months. It’s what I’ve been saying all along,” said the city’s business license inspector Dave Jones, talking about the time between submitting a business application to the province and the opening date. “I would hope now that the province gives other stores that conditional approval, so they can move forward. A number of other stores (in Kamloops) are also moving forward in advance with their renovations. Very similar to Chris, they’re taking the chance to do the renovations in the hope that once they do get that approval in principle from the province, that they are shortly behind opening their doors.”

While the Lyths are excited about the business, they’re also looking forward to being part of a transformation that’s happening right now on the North Shore, working closely with Business Improvement Association President Jeremy Heighton. 

“We’re very excited to work with him. He’s very positive about what we would like to do. He’s been on board with some buskers that we may like to have in our area here,” noted Nadine. “It’s going to be very exciting times, I believe.”