@movernie
As I was taking a stroll in the downtown of St. John’s, Newfoundland, I happened to see this Tweed Store located at the Water Street. That’s when it brought back my memories that during the Cannabis Legalization Day (October 17, 2018), the 1st ever recreational cannabis transaction was made here at this Tweed store in Newfoundland. So, to me, immediately, I felt like there was a sense of historic and significance of this Tweed store.
NOTE: I happened to walk by this Tweed store as I was walking around the city to sightsee. I didn’t make any purchase of the cannabis so I couldn’t comment on that element. However, I did purchase its apparel and checked out the space, so I will comment on this part of my apparel purchases and my experience checking out the store decor and layout.
Additionally, physical cannabis stores are not even available in the province of Ontario (tentatively April 2019), so it made me decided to walk in the store to check out this physical store. As you can see from the photos, there were no see-through windows, so no one can see what’s happening inside.
The moment I walked into the store, it’s modern, clean, organized and filled with bright lights. It was very inviting and it didn’t look like a cannabis store, it looked more like a coffee shop selling coffee beans or an urban furniture store. The decor pretty much on par with the cannabis stores that I visited when I was in Denver, Colorado and San Diego, California.
My mission to check out the Tweed store was to see the layout and what it looks like as a physical store. Cannabis wasn’t legalized for over 100+ years in Canada, so I am curious about how it’s being operated here at Tweed. I felt strongly that it’s important we educate ourselves about cannabis, it’s benefits and its weaknesses. We need to be open minded and see how it’s going to benefit as well as impact our society. But bottomline, I don’t want to be naive and I don’t want to give an unfair pre-conceived judgement about cannabis without even check out its stores or gain knowledge from the staffs.
As I walked further into the store, I saw Tweed female apparels and pillows and blankets. Wow! This is more than just cannabis, there are other merchandize. I was greeted by 2 friendly staff. They checked my ID (Canadian with a driver license is suffice). Then, they showed me around. There was another section of clothing merchandize filled with men’s hoodies, tees, pillows, blankets, etc.
There was a counter filled with friendly staff asking me if I need to buy any cannabis. I kindly decline and told them I was here to explore and to self-educate myself and they were happy about that as well. I mean, they appreciate current customers or potential buyers to familiarize themselves with cannabis, the CBD value, THC value, the strains, the products available. However, I heard from the locals and the staff at Tweed that the supply and the variety of cannabis being available are limited. Many were out of stock and peeps are furious coz it’s wasted their time to travel to the store only to realize many products aren’t available.
Personally, I just hope the people are being more patient and put more consideration that this cannabis industry is just started not long ago, from the growing of the plants to manufacturing and to the development of packaging and putting it on the shelves at the physical stores require time. I am confident that companies such as Tweed will iron out the kinks and soon will be able to pick up-to-speed and provide more supplies and variety to the mass consumers.
My visit to the Tweed store was an eye-opener, I learned alot about the products, the purpose of the cannabis store. And to be honest, the store itself is very modern and clean, classy, it’s not those ghetto at the back alley, run-down type of store. It’s safe and it’s being operated professionally.
I was told by the friendly staff that there is a plan of having a barista to make coffee inside the store, so there is a chance there will be a cafe section. And I was also informed that will be a higher apparel Tweed line to be expected for sale in 2019. So, lots of new products and services to be expected from Tweed.
Now, the question is…..will the store layout and products selections be similar for new Tweed stores in the province of Ontario when physical cannabis stores are legalized in April 2019? Stay tuned!
Hi, Nice to meet you! 🙂
Tweed – St. John’s, Newfoundland
Website: www.Tweed.com
Address: 189 Water St, St. John’s, NL A1C 1B4
Phone: (709) 701-6015
