The side wall is painted with a big woodsy mural.
MONROE — A marijuana shop is cleared to open soon in the former Roosevelt Store near Roosevelt and Trombley roads.
The Kushery received its license approval from state regulators Friday, Dec. 16.
The site will be The Kushery's sixth location. Joshua Shade, who co-owns the overall company, said he picked this location because it's an opportunity to open near Monroe.
The fact Monroe and Sultan prohibit marijuana stores within city limits factored heavily.
His niece Jona Cheatham's Last Stop Pot Shop in Gold Bar will be relocating operations to here.
The shop off of U.S. 2 was almost an eighth of a mile away from a competing retailer. "Gold Bar didn't need two stores," Shade said.
Last week's snowy roads delayed the Monroe store's official opening.
Shade bought the building from a Lake Stevens woman, and finished the purchase May 31.
The sale forced the former Roosevelt Store to close around Memorial Day weekend. It had been a mom-and-pop market for decades serving the Roosevelt community. The store's last operator had been there nearly 20 years but didn't own the underlying land.
The 1920 building stuck out with open fields nearby. Now it's unmistakable: Since summertime, it has had a prominent green paintjob with a woodsy design on the west wall.
Deeper than cosmetic changes, though, the 1920 building now has a new front door and inside it would have undergone substantial work to comply with a thick book of antitheft security regulations in state law.
When the store does open, Kushery representatives said each grand opening includes making cash donations to local nonprofits.
Monroe, Snohomish, Sultan, Lynnwood and Mill Creek all prohibit marijuana stores in city limits.
It’s why, for example, Snohomish is flanked by a shop north and a shop south of city limits.
Joshua Estes, a lobbyist working for The Kushery, said he meets with city leaders from time to time. “Consistently, Snohomish and Monroe have been clear on their intent on not reversing their bans,” he said, but added that there’s “always room to have more conversations.”
Cities that won’t allow retailers are leaving tax money on the table, Estes said.
The state designates that bigger cities can allow a set number of shops; Everett’s maximum is 10, and it allows up to eight. Unincorporated Snohomish County is allowed 32 shops.
Marijuana has been a legal product in Washington state for 10 years after voters approved Initiative 502 to legalize it. It made Washington the first U.S. state to legalize the recreational use of marijuana, with Colorado becoming the second four days later.
Michael Whitney photo
The store as it looked in May 2022.
