Reno Dispensaries Rake in Six-Figure Numbers on Opening Weekend

The combination of the first day of recreational cannabis sales and the holiday weekend proved to be a perfect storm in Reno. The city’s four licensed dispensaries sold hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of cannabis withing the first four days of legal cannabis sales in Nevada.

According to Will Adler, Executive Director of the Sierra Cannabis Coalition, Reno dispensaries fared better than Las Vegas dispensaries. Weekend sales continued to surge in the city throughout July 4.

The Blum dispensary location in Reno served about 1,000 customers and made about $100,000 in sales within the first 24 hours of business. Customers flooded in at the crack of midnight on July 1. Comparatively, Blum’s Las Vegas locations only made about $90,000 during the first 24 hours. Mint, another dispensary in Reno, raked in $300,000 by Tuesday, with 900 customers within the first 24 hours and 700 customers on the second day. Sierra Wellness served over 1,200 customers within the first 24 hours, with similar numbers on the following days.

The initial excitement, however, may not last forever. “Naturally, it will drop off because the first day was a novelty,” Nevada Dispensary Association Executive Director Riana Durrett told the Reno Gazette-Journal. “I think [sales]will stay healthy because this market exists now, and I think people will be relieved to come out of the shadows.”

Reno only licenses four dispensaries, while Las Vegas is home to about 40 dispensaries. Las Vegas attracts a much larger tourist base, but the small number of dispensaries is Reno could be problematic. The customer-dispensary ratio led to excessively long lines that stretched around the block in some cases. Some of the four dispensaries were so busy, they were unable to accommodate the crowds and re-stock. None of the four dispensaries have a distribution licenses from the state’s Department of Taxation, and were unable to properly re-stock. Issues with the new program are expected to be ironed out in the upcoming months.