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A Las Vegas cannabis dispensary is looking to hire 250 workers for a soon-to-be-completed superstore in Santa Ana as the company expands its operations amid a gradually improving COVID-19 economy.
Planet 13 hopes to fill the Orange County positions by July. It also will be adding 40 cash registers and 80 additional employees at its Las Vegas store, boosting companywide staffing by 330.
The 45,000-square-foot Santa Ana location at 3400 Warner Ave. will be called Planet 13 Orange County.
The company’s vice president of sales and marketing says it’s a prime spot for the company’s first foray beyond Nevada.
“It’s about 10 minutes from Disneyland, five minutes from the South Coast Plaza mall and close to the beach,” said David Farris. “We know that many people who visit our Las Vegas location are from California.”
Planet 13 touts its Las Vegas location as the “world’s largest cannabis store,” and said the Santa Ana dispensary will be the second largest.
Larry Scheffler, the company’s co-CEO, said business is picking up as COVID-19 numbers continue to fall and pandemic-related restrictions are eased.
“We’re pleased that Vegas is coming back to life and feeling like Vegas again, and are happy that as the tourists return we’re able to hire for various positions immediately,” Scheffler said in a statement. “Plus, in the next few months, hundreds of more jobs will become available at our first superstore in Santa Ana.”
Big business
Data from Flowhub, a cannabis advocacy group, show the U.S. cannabis market is valued at $61 billion, with nationwide cannabis sales rising 67% in 2020.
The data additionally shows 12% of Americans are active marijuana users and support for legal marijuana is at an all-time high of 68%.
The Santa Ana dispensary is rising from the retrofit of a building that once housed several businesses, including offices and a traffic school.
“We’re projecting that we’ll complete the work soon and have the new location open in July,” Farris said. “But with COVID-19 that’s always a moving target.”
The bulk of Planet 13’s customers are recreational users, although the company also caters to people who purchase marijuana for medical reasons.
Planet 13 has openings in both California and Nevada for roles in management, inventory, human resources and packaging. Additional jobs are available for sales clerks and delivery drivers.
Information on job postings can be found at www.planet13lasvegas.com/careers/.
A variety of blends
Planet 13 sells a variety of hybrid marijuana blends, including Chunkberry, Grapefuit Mimosa, Ice Cream Cake, Orange 43 and Black Mamba, among others. Depending upon variety, an ounce of marijuana can run anywhere from $200 to $420.
The products are also available in much smaller amounts. A gram of Dosi Ice Cream, for example, is $25, while 7 grams of Motorbreath is $72. Customers spend an average of $115 on cannabis and accessories, Farris said.
“We’ll be able to do deliveries within a 25-mile radius and there will also be curbside pickup and an online merchandise store,” he said.
An immersive experience
Farris said the company strives to create an immersive experience for customers. The exterior of the Santa Ana store will feature a giant red ball water fountain bearing the Planet 13 logo, and the dispensary’s interior will include a massive LED wall with a waterfall.
The store’s floor will be digitally programmed to look like water that ripples when visitors walk across it, Farris said, or it could be made to look like they’re walking on the moon.
“It will also have a giant octopus holding an umbrella,” he said. “There will be umbrellas all over the ceiling.”
The store will also sell a variety of accessories, including T-shirts, caps and bongs.
The legalities
Adult use of cannabis is legal in California under Proposition 64, which was approved by voters in 2016. But the biggest concern for marijuana users is where they can get high. The short answer? Marijuana use is still prohibited in most areas.
There is no restriction for Californians or their guests to smoke in their homes if they are the owner of the residence. But landlords can ban the use of marijuana on their properties for renters or short-term guests.
California law allows residents 21 and over to possess, privately use and give away up to one ounce of cannabis, and to cultivate no more than six plants for personal use at their residence.
Weed for Warriors, a military veterans marijuana advocacy group, has circulated a ballot initiative that could potentially ease the high taxes, regulatory burdens and illicit-market competition California’s marijuana industry has faced since Prop 64 was passed.
The measure, which has gained support from cannabis businesses, labor unions, politicians and medical marijuana users, would remove local control of cannabis licensing, eliminate state marijuana cultivation taxes and lower the state cannabis excise tax rate from 15% to 5%.
It would also prohibit local marijuana taxes but devote 20% of state taxes collected to localities.
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