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Cool Stores: Utah's The Flower Shop is a Oasis of Wellness in the Beehive State

Utah may not be the first place you’d think to find great cannabis, but The Flower Shop in Ogden serves up healing products tailored to patient needs, courtesy of a well-trained staff.

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The Flower Shop, Ogden, UT

OPENED: May 2020; DESIGNER: TFS Brands; EMPLOYEES: 23; AREA: 2,375 sq. feet; TOP IN-HOUSE BRANDS: Boojum, Dragonfly Wellness, High Variety, Riverside, True North Organics, Tryke, Zion; ONLINE PRESENCE: 140+ 5-star Google reviews, 1,900+ Instagram followers


Greta Brandt President, TFS Brands

“Our priority is to provide our patients and consumers with clean, transparent products in a way that makes them feel comfortable and safe”, Greta Brandt President, TFS Brands

WHEN WE THINK of cannabis, most folks don’t think of Utah. But the state famous for frowning on intoxicating substances has actually had legal medical cannabis available for more than two years.

It took a good while to open Utah’s regulated medical market following the passage of the Medical Cannabis Act in 2018. The Beehive State’s first cannabis dispensary opened in Salt Lake City in March 2020.

Not far behind were two branches of a mini-chain called Perfect Earth Modern Apothecary, which later became The Flower Shop Logan and The Flower Shop Ogden. The Logan shop opened in April 2020, followed by the Ogden site in May. The two dispensaries went through another name change as True North Organics before settling on their current names. The Flower Shop Logan and The Flower Shop Ogden are now part of Phoenix, AZ-based TFS Brands’ burgeoning stable of recreational and medical dispensaries in Arizona (three locations) and Utah.

Global Cannabis Times was recently given a virtual tour of the Ogden dispensary. Here’s what’s budding at The Flower Shop in this town of about 85,000 residents nestled at the foot of the Wasatch Mountains.

Flower Shop’s shelves

NEEDS MUST: The Flower Shop’s shelves boast a flourishing selection of house-branded products ranging from flower and vapes to tinctures and topicals.

Turning an Old Bank Into a Fresh Bouquet

Stocked with a host of indulgent buds and cannabis-derived goods ranging from vapes and edibles to tinctures and topicals, this premium cannabis dispensary offers both in-store shopping and drive-thru service to customers on the go.

Housed inside a repurposed KeyBank building constructed in the 1970s, The Flower Shop retains some key banking security features—most notably, a formidable vault for storage and a drive-up window.

The Flower Shop design team aimed for practical functionality outside and in while creating an inviting and healing atmosphere for cannabis old heads and newcomers alike, says TFS Brands president Greta Brandt.

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“Being a female in a male-dominated industry, my initial focus for The Flower Shop was to present cannabis as a wellness option for people who would otherwise not experiment with the plant due to the negative stigmas and ‘weedy’ vibes, especially women,” she told GCT.

“We accomplished this by rebranding The Flower Shop into a spa-like wellness mecca, but with weed. Our priority is to provide our patients and consumers with clean, transparent products in a way that makes them feel comfortable and safe.”

The Ogden store features wood elements for an earthy feel that Brandt says her company plans to export to other stores it is opening or redesigning.

The dispensary’a west side is wall-to-wall glass. This allows natural light to trickle in, making The Flower Shop feel bigger than its 2,375 sq. feet.

The-Flower-shop-exterior

ROLL UP: A drive-up window inherited from the old bank branch offers customers convenience in filling prescriptions.

People Come First

TFS Brands, also known as The Flower Shop, is a women-led company promising to deliver on a “consumer-first model rooted in transparency, well-being and exacting standards for quality.”

A 23-person-strong team of well-trained employees make the Ogden dispensary work. Each Flower Shop outlet has a team of wellness experts who have undergone medical-focused training. They guide customers with their expertise on the endocannabinoid system (ECS) and help explain dosing, terpenoids, methods of administration, product details and other knowledge related to cannabinoids.

Patients are greeted by staff in the store’s lobby, where they can be checked in before entering the sales area. Here, they can consult with a licensed pharmacist to determine their best course of treatment and also discuss options with a wellness expert before making a purchase.

Outside of the store, The Flower Shop also maintains a solid online presence with a well-crafted website offering daily updated deals for online shoppers.

“Working as a medical cannabis pharmacist is something I will always cherish. I can’t count how many patients’ lives I have seen drastically change for the better,” says Justin Jennings, senior operations manager at The Flower Shop Ogden.

The-Flower-Shop-interior

ROOMY INTERIOR: The Flower Shop Ogden uses wood elements for an earthy feel and leverages glass paneling to create the feeling of more space inside.

Home Grown Therapy

The shelves of the store are brimming with a diverse selection of therapeutic products. A range of TFS-produced artisan and craft cannabis goods are on offer—there’s almost always something to meet the wide-ranging needs of all customers, says Jennings.

The Flower Shop’s cultivation facility in Brigham City, UT boasts 20,000 sq. feet of growing capacity along with an additional 8,000 sq. feet for a processing lab and warehouse. About 50 employees grow and produce the cannabis and extracts that go into TFS-branded products in lines like True North Organics and High Variety.

Brigham City produces flower, live and cured resin cartridges, concentrates, gummies, tinctures and topicals. It also services all 15 of the licensed medical cannabis pharmacies in the state of Utah.

LISTEN TO THE SOUNDTRACK! Check out GCTMag’s Spotify playlist for The Flower Shop at tinyurl.com/ztbfr3d5

Utah Maid……………………………………….Pixie and the Partygrass Boys
Flowers…………………………………………Miley Cyrus
Rocky Mountain Music……………………………..Eddie Rabbitt
Down So Long…………………………………….Jewel
Flowers in Your Hair……………………………..The Lumineers
Utah Carol………………………………………The Floorbirds
Rocky Mountain…………………………………..Lightnin’ Hopkins, Sonny Terry
Flowers in December………………………………Mazzy Star
On Top of the World………………………………Imagine Dragons
Yo-Yo…………………………………………..The Osmonds
Utah……………………………………………French Cassettes
Rocky Mountain Rangers……………………………Colter Wall
Danny’s Song…………………………………….Loggins & Messina
The History of Utah………………………………Camper Van Beethoven
My Father’s Daughter……………………………..Jewel feat. Dolly Parton
Rocky Mountain Way……………………………….Ozzy Osbourne
Natural Blue…………………………………….Julie Byrne
Rocky Mountain Time………………………………John Prine
Flower Power…………………………………….Greta Van Fleet
Ogden’s Nut Gone Flake……………………………Small Faces
All Used Up……………………………………..Utah Phillips

Each product sold through the store has undergone mandatory state testing and is accompanied by a Certificate of Analysis to ensure product safety and efficacy. This includes a flourishing selection of in-house brands covering major product categories like flower, vapes and vape cartridges, gummies and other edibles, tinctures, concentrates and topicals, as well as an assortment of useful accessories.

The Flower Shop also stocks capsules, transdermal patches, sprays and other products specially formulated to produce an array of specific effects. Cannabinoid ratios and terpene profiles vary, giving patients the ability to fine-tune their perfect remedy.

“I look at it through the lens of, what is it that our pickiest customer would want?” says Brandt, describing The Flower Shop’s philosophy for product quality and customer experience. “I’m a picky customer, too, so I design our stores to meet my own high expectations for a shopping experience.”

Five Cool Things About The Flower Shop

1. ROLL UP SERVICE. The Flower Shop’s Ogden location boasts a convenient drive-thru window to ensure easier access for patients.

2. PASSING ON SAVINGS. By keeping cultivation, manufacturing and packaging in-house, The Flower Shop says it can keeps prices down for customers.

3. PHARMACIST IN THE HOUSE. An available pharmacist is always on-hand to assist patients at The Flower Shop. This allows for both new and established patients to begin or continue cannabis treatment with the proper information and guidance necessary.

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4. BANK ON IT. The Flower Shop’s Ogden facility was once a bank and it inherited a vault and other security features that keep employees and customers safe.

5. LICENSE EXCLUSIVITY. Just 15 medical cannabis pharmacies are slated to open in Utah under the current regulatory regime—The Flower Shop controls two of the first three dispensaries that opened across the Beehive State.

PHOTO GALLERY (5 IMAGES)

Try This: Discounts, Sales + Events

  • If you’re a senior, a military member or are simply celebrating another trip around the sun, The Flower Shop has you covered. The company offers senior discounts, military discounts and birthday week discounts.
  • Patients can also take advantage of a customer rewards program to bag a 10 percent discount on all products sold in-store, as well as regular flash sales and promotional sales that are held throughout the calendar year.
  • On special occasions, the pharmacy transforms into an event venue. Every June 1, for example, The Flower Shop Ogden celebrates the anniversary of its grand opening.
  • Two more familiar dates for festivities are April 20 (4/20) and July 10 (7/10, a.k.a. National Dab Day). In addition to being sales promotions, these events play host to educational booths, music and dancing, and delicious offerings from food trucks at The Flower Shop Ogden.

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