SHOP REVIEW
18
ARCANNA From the first glance at the cushy massage chair in the waiting room, I knew I was in a different sort of dispensary. Arcanna, located just up the street from stoner favorites Pips donuts and Nacheux, might just be the industry’s new favorite shop. Much more generous than most, Arcanna offers OLCC cardholders a 40% discount. Started by Portland natives and industry pros who themselves got started in the health and wellness industry, you can tell Arcanna approaches their shelves a little differently than other dispensaries.
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the owner Valentina puts it, “It has to be something that our budtenders really connect with for us to offer it. We’re trying to showcase the best of Oregon’s producers and not all of the out-of-state corporate options that are available to us.” In the words of the manager Ben, “We have a much more selective intake process, which can annoy vendors, but we’re not trying to do the same as a typical dispensary here.” It’s no surprise that budtenders tend to sell more of the products they like. “With quality comes a high price tag,” said Valentina. “And our discount allows budtenders and industry workers to come here and try more products than they would normally have access to. Because we’ve worked wholesale and purchased for other high volume dispensaries, we have a close eye on the market and are incredibly picky about what hits our shelves.” They’ve also got an entire portion of the store dedicated to CBD and other minor cannabinoids such as CBG and CBN. “We can’t make health claims, but we can do the research and direct our clients to sources like double-blind studies, instead of memorizing pseudoscience,” she said. “We’re also stepping up the quality control with rigorous rules in our tasting and testing, but we’ve also attracted a staff full of people with this level of aptitude – and this sort of Cannabis knowledge has been a major driving factor in this place. We’ve built a close-knit staff that has seen the industry for these last five years and been through it all, we’re really more of a family at this point.”
SEPT. 2021
THEY’VE ALSO GOT AN ENTIRE PORTION OF THE STORE DEDICATED TO CBD AND OTHER MINOR CANNABINOIDS SUCH AS CBG AND CBN.
