The Evergreen Market | Washington

Access Point: The Evergreen Market

Address: 409
Rainier Ave., N, Renton

Phone Number: (425)
318-8898

Website: www.theevergreenmarket.com

Interviewed: Jeff
and Cass.

How and when
did your 502 retail store start up?

We’ve been open for three months. It was actually three of us
guys who got together and put in a couple license applications, and one of us
got drawn. This industry is becoming a new culture, it’s changing. It’s a
blessing for me and for many of us to have a hand in that.

Any story
behind the name of your access point?

We were looking for a name that would allow us to grow the
business in as many different directions as we could. We went through a whole
lot of names, and we thought that the market approach aligned with what we
envisioned our store would look like. We wanted space that was bigger than most
stores; we wanted to be able to have a normal shopping experience like you would
have at any market.

What does your
store offer consumers that other locations might not?

For one thing, we have a very well developed education bar,
and we’ve set our brand around education. Our motto is “educate, elevate,
celebrate.” We want to educate you, and be educated by you regarding what kind
of experience you’re seeking. We want to elevate that experience, and then we
want to celebrate it, because this is really, really fun product—let’s
celebrate having this great product available to us.

What challenges
are retail shops currently facing in WA State?

The taxes. There are still those stereotypes and stigmas
too. It’s the overall bureaucracy of legalization too, because it’s not only
that taxes are bad, but you can’t sell ancillary items. We’re unable to brand
our company. We’re kind of put in a box as another 502 store, and we’re the tax
collector for the state without the ability to go beyond that right now.

What is the
most important thing you hope to accomplish while in the cannabis industry?

The fun, the energy, the love—that’s kind of our primary
marching order, and it has manifested into a cool store. This didn’t happen
overnight. We’ve worked hard while having fun to get to this point, and that’s
the foundation of what we have going on. It’s not about getting the most money.
In that space of fun, energy and hard work, the byproduct of that is impacted
as well. We’re passionate about it.