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THE KUSHERY Local Cannabis chain sticks to their roots from medical to recreational.
Washington’s Cannabis market has gone through a lot of change since 2012, and Joshua Shade has been a part of the industry from those early medical collectives and donations to patients, and has adapted and thrived in the recreational space where so many MMJ businesses did not make the transition. With the recent opening of the Kushery’s ‘At The Dealership’ location on Evergreen Way in Everett, there were nearly a dozen elected officials, including two mayors, all present to watch the ribbon cutting ceremony and presentation of donations to several cancer patients and organizations. We sat down with Shade to talk about his history in MMJ, the transition and the pros/cons of the new legal market, and why giving back to patients still matters in today’s Cannabis industry. What inspired you to take the risk and open a medical collective (dispensary) and start providing medicine to patients? I like helping people and dealing with the public, and my main thing was to provide patients with the good weed I was growing. It was pretty nerve-wracking at times to be scared that the DEA was coming in, and worrying all our hard work could get seized, it was scary back in the day. But I loved it – I loved people coming in and changing their lives. Plus, I wanted to share all the great weed I was growing at that time. There was a real sense back then that Cannabis was helping people. Do you have a favorite memory of working with patients? My favorite day I ever had, a patient came in who we knew had cancer, who wasn’t terminal but very sick – and he came in and said, ‘I have no idea how, but my cancer is gone!’ He was able to skip chemotherapy because of Cannabis. That same day, we had another patient come in who was terminal, and he told us his doctor had given him two months to live instead of two weeks, which for anyone dealing with end of life, is precious time. And I’ve told that story so many times because it really was a special day.
OCT. 2021
“When we opened, we lived in fear of the DEA every day – and now we have this opportunity to be a part of the community and political process.” Founder Joshua Shade at the opening of The Kushery’s newest location on Evergreen Way.
How many years was Woodinville Quality Collective open, which was your name before the Kusherys became a company, and what was it like to have to close? We were open all the way until the last day the State closed the MMJ program in July of 2016. My last customer was my second customer, we’d planned on it, and it brought tears to my eyes. I knew we were going into something bigger and that it was going to change not just Washington, but the entire world – but it was a sad day. Back then people would come in and say thank you for taking care of me and being open. It’s definitely different than now, where the customer attitude is that ‘I can go to any store for the same products.’ Medical provided a unique experience
where you got to know your customer much more deeply. How did the Kushery start and what were the early days of recreational Cannabis sales like? We got pretty lucky in the lottery and were awarded four licenses. The first store, Clearview, opened April 2015. We were lucky that all our staff wanted to stay, and we really appreciated that. I didn’t like the prices 502 had in the beginning, because I knew that after the first harvest, prices would plummet, and the people taking advantage and wholesaling weed at eight dollars a gram would stop. I told people the market was crazy, that it was going to change drastically. Success in this industry is all about building relationships.
