Curaleaf dispensary grows by opening 10th location in Westmont

With the cannabis business growing rapidly across the nation, Curaleaf has opened its 10th Illinois dispensary in Westmont.

Curaleaf representatives said they couldn’t be happier with the decision.

“Westmont checked all our boxes,” said Steve Delich, Curaleaf central region vice president of retail. “It’s important for us now to localize and to have a place in the community where we can create a welcoming environment.”

Curaleaf, 11 E. Ogden Ave., has a presence in 23 states. It is a vertically integrated company, meaning Curaleaf handles many of its products from conception to consumption.

Larry Forssberg, executive director of the Westmont Chamber of Commerce, said Curaleaf, with 105 locations, has the experience needed to be at the top level of a relatively new industry, demonstrating it is a business that can be trusted.

“Their staff is phenomenal and more than capable of talking to anyone and everyone regardless of their level of understanding,” Forssberg said. “You don’t have to feel like you don’t know, even if you have no idea what to expect.”

Whether a patron is a first-time marijuana user or longtime consumer and whether they’ve been in a handful of dispensaries or have never stepped foot in one, Delich said Curaleaf aims to guide them through their dispensary journey with a one-on-one, curated approach.

The store’s open floor plan allows customers to enter and be met by a staff member who can walk them through the dispensary and its products. Delich said employees will get to know the customer and their needs in order to best suggest products for them.

“We are hyper-focused,” Delich said. “We want to meet our customers where they are on the cannabis experience and educate on consumption, needs and benefits and find what is right for them.”

While Forssberg said it is hard to tell what revenue from the dispensary will look like at this time, he believes the marijuana industry is rapidly growing. With that in mind, he said he would guess the revenue for Westmont from the dispensary will mirror something such as a car dealership in terms of sales tax.

Recreational marijuana use was legalized in Illinois in 2019.

“There’s been a stigma around the cannabis industry for a long time, but destigmatization is around the corner,” Delich said.

Curaleaf is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.