Killarney Guide

Prairie Trichomes retail cannabis store hopes to open its Broadway doors in mid-February

BY KIM LANGEN

Work is underway to create a cool shop floor for Killarney’s first legal cannabis store.

Prairie Trichomes Retail Cannabis Store, located next to the Meighen Haddad building at the downtown end of Broadway, was a hive of activity earlier this week, as project manager Mike Coupland began the makeover of what was recently the Hodge Podge and Pickle used clothing store.

Coupland, a cabinetmaker, is part of the Prairie Trichomes team, and his wife Kailey Coupland is regional manager for the Manitoba cannabis company, he said.

“The sign went up on Tuesday,” said Coupland, who is also the company’s social media manager. “I joined Killarney Chat, and we have been getting a lot of great feedback and congratulations. How did we get involved? The company is owned by the Carritt family, and my wife grew up with the Carritts in Carberry, and they asked us to get involved with the cannabis venture. I have been a cannabis enthusiast for many years, and when the Carritts asked me to join them, I was more than willing. It’s an industry I always wanted to see legalized, and I am so happy it finally is. We are now able to safely supply customers without them having to go through the black market.”

The company opened their first outlet on Mountain Street in Neepawa last November, and Coupland says business is going well there.

“I did the renovation in that building too,” he said. “It was a much bigger job than here in Killarney. We are definitely staying fairly busy there, and are hitting our goals despite the COVID-19 challenges.”

Coupland said that Killarney is their second project, and they have plans to eventually open more regional cannabis stores in the province. 

“We picked Killarney because we know Killarney is kind of a hub for the surrounding towns, and we hope to supply as many people in the small towns as we can,” he said.

Prairie Trichomes was formed in 2019 by the Carritt family, a fourth-generation Manitoba farm family. 

Their first facility was a retrofitted potato storage building, which they converted to a micro-cultivation operation. 

They currently run a 6,000-square-foot cultivation facility near Carberry, designed in collaboration with cannabis company Delta 9. The facility is operated under a micro-cultivation license with Health Canada, issued in September 2020.

So how do the cannabis flower/buds find their way into the Killarney store?

Coupland explained that it includes several steps, beginning with their partners Delta 9, who take the product into their Winnipeg processing and production centre to prepare it for sale.

From there it moves through MBLL – Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries – which is what all cannabis producers must do in the province.

The product can then return to Prairie Trichomes, to be sold over the Killarney counter, while some also goes to other purchasers in Manitoba, he said.

Coupland said his plans were to install a number of large live-edge tables, using acacia hardwood in the new Killarney outlet.

“They will be randomly dispersed, with sealed glass display cabinets on them,” he said. “We will have bongs, pipes, vaporizers, accoutrements, books, scent-masking candles, and also hoodies and other items on display. The cannabis itself is not on display. It is behind the counters. We will also have cannabis edibles, oils, topical lotions, and cannabis bath bombs. To purchase cannabis products, customers need to produce government issued picture ID, and be 19 or over. And they have to be sober.”

The store will not be able to fill prescriptions for CBD, he added.

“A medical prescription has to be filled by a pharmacy,” said Coupland. “We can’t do it. But anyone can purchase cannabis from us.”

Sales staff will likely be recruited locally, he said.

“We like to be as local as much as possible,” said Coupland. “Building supplies, staff, everything. Kailey is currently looking for retail staff for the Killarney location. They have to enjoy working with the public, and knowledge of cannabis is useful, but we do train people. Our staff has to take Smart Choices through the Manitoba government. That’s learning how to safely and properly sell cannabis products. Kailey will be here just to train the new staff; we call the staff ‘budtenders,’ and they will be extremely knowledgeable about cannabis. They will be able to help customers with all their questions. Plus the budtenders will pick their own music for their store, usually Apple music. Our speakers will be SONOS, and it’s a great sound.”

The company will also provide home delivery to within a 60 km radius of Killarney, with a minimum order, they said.

Opening date is planned for mid-February, said Coupland. 

“We are just waiting for our retail license to come through,” he said. “They come through both the MBLL and the LGCA (Liquor, Gaming, and Cannabis Authority) of Manitoba.”

So what is a trichome? Turns out it’s a Greek word, relating to “hairy,” and means a fine outgrowth or appendage on plants, algaes, lichens, and protists. Trichomes are the source of resin and cannabinoids on cannabis plants; the small spheres that coat the leaves in cannabis resin.

For more information about Prairie Trichomes, check out their website at PrairieTrichomes.com.

CANNABIS FOR KILLARNEY – Mike Coupland, project manager for Prairie Trichomes, started work inside the company’s new shop location in Killarney on Tuesday. Opening is planned for mid-February, when their retail license for cannabis sale is expected to complete.

MEASURING UP FOR SIGNAGE – Mike Coupland was busy on Tuesday, measuring up for renovations outside the old Hodge Podge and Pickle location, next to Meighen Haddad on Broadway. Within weeks, the inside should be transformed into a Prairie Trichomes retail cannabis shop.