LYNN — Diem Cannabis held its grand opening on Friday, making it the third out of eight planned dispensaries to open in the city.
This is Diem’s fourth location, adding to other locations in Worcester and Salem, Mass., as well as Portland, Ore.
Diem purchased the location, which was previously a Thai restaurant, two years ago and spent the past year renovating the entire interior of the building. Co-founder and Chief Executive Director Chris Mitchem, said the building was very run down and needed a lot of work.
“A lot of blood, sweat, tears and money went into the building,” Mitchem said. “It was a huge undertaking.”
The dispensary is hard to miss, sporting a bright blue exterior which matches the company’s logo. They have a welcome desk upon entering that directs customers to the counter where products can be purchased. In the back — which is an employee-only area — is an intake room that weighs and verifies products and handles business transactions.
Next to that room is the vault, where the products are stored.
John DiNovella, Diem’s vice president of operations, said on Friday there was $400,000 worth of product in the vault — which he predicted would get sold in “a 30-day turnaround.”
DiNovella said everything in the vault is tracked in the state’s cannabis-tracking system and must coincide down to the gram.
If the gram measures in the vault do not match up to what is in the tracking system, an investigation must take place, which includes looking at the records and tracking the intake and sales. Measurement mismatches are oftentimes a result of human error, DiNovella said, but police can get involved if need be.
The process of approving this dispensary involved a lot of neighborhood meetings over the past two years, as well as input and decisions made by the City Council and its cannabis committee — which is chaired by Ward 2 Councilor Rick Starbard.
City Council President Darren Cyr described this new business as a viable asset to the community, the neighborhood and the Goldfish Pond Association.
“It took a lot of time taking a look at all the different people who wanted to come into the city to open a cannabis shop,” Cyr said. “It was a pretty tough, rigorous thing, and you guys (Diem) passed with flying colors.”
Cyr said he is excited to welcome Diem into the community and is looking forward to continuing to work together.
Mayor Thomas M. McGee echoed Cyr’s sentiment, calling Diem a “really exciting” addition to the city.
“You’ve made a major investment in the community, and we really appreciate that,” McGee said. “More importantly, bringing local people in to work in this facility and (making) it successful is a key piece.”
Diem has hired a staff of locals who know the area and the people, and they’ve also announced their partnership with the volunteer Goldfish Pond Association.
Diem awarded the association with a $5,000 check, which Mitchem said will be the start of their future work together.
Diem opens Saturday at 9 a.m., and patrons must be 21 years or older to enter. The regular hours are Monday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Allysha Dunnigan can be reached at [email protected].
