West Michigan residents are stocking up on the essentials ahead of expected blizzard conditions Friday and into Saturday: Food, water, batteries — and cannabis.
Dispensary operators in Grand Rapids and along the lakeshore, where wind gusts could reach up to 45 miles per hour with up to a foot of snow, report a spike not only in customer volume but also in purchase volume. One operator who’s been in business for more than three years says a bout of extreme weather can drive a roughly 25% spike in sales.
“A lot of people came in today and bought ounces. People don’t usually buy that much — I was super surprised by it,” said Selina Shananaquet, general manager of The Grassy Knoll at 2125 Lemuel St. in Muskegon. “A lot of people were stocking up on papers and accessories to make sure they had something to smoke out of, as well as edibles, like they were just trying to hunker.”
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Shananaquet, who has worked at The Grassy Knoll since it opened in late 2021, reported that she had served 93 people on Thursday by around 5 p.m. The store closes at midnight and also has a drive-thru. She anticipated customer volume would far exceed the typical of 150 customers per day.
“We still have a long night ahead of us,” she said.
The sales spike is welcome for The Grassy Knoll, which Shananaquet said as a small family-owned business competes in a “super tough market” with larger operators.
“We hope to just keep gaining,” she said.
Dispensary operators reported similar activity elsewhere in the region, which is expected to be among the hardest hit in the state with wind and snow. As of Thursday night, Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids and along the lakeshore were forecasted to receive 8-12 inches of snow starting midday Friday and lasting until Saturday afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.
“Main concerns are wind gusts of 30 to 45 mph paired with heavy snow causing blowing and drifting snow, whiteout conditions, power outages, and hazardous travel conditions,” NWS wrote in a Thursday forecast.
The NWS storm severity index forecasts Grand Rapids and Muskegon to experience “major impacts” that “will likely result in considerable disruptions to daily life.”
The forecast means grocery stores aren’t the only businesses seeing long lines of shoppers and a spike in purchases for stocking up before the forecasted blizzard. Similar to alcohol stockpiling in the early weeks of the pandemic, harsh weather that can keep people indoors for extended periods of time drives customers to acquire a larger stash, operators say.
Karen Kekelik, co-owner of IndiGrow in Muskegon, said the cannabis microbusiness “absolutely” experienced an increase in customers Wednesday and Thursday as people prepared for the potential conditions.
Similar to The Grassy Knoll, more customers have been buying ounces of flower as well as vape products at Indigrow. When temperatures drop, customers are more likely to stock up, she said.
“In the winter, in general, we see a lower volume of customers compared to the summer, but customers are buying more things,” Kekelik said.
The craft dispensary opened at the end of 2022 and has been doing well considering the unpredictability of the cannabis market, Kekelik said. The owners weren’t sure what to expect the first winter in business but were “pleasantly surprised” by their business’ ability to build relationships in the community, she added.
Casey Kornoelje, owner of Pharmhouse Wellness Co. on Grand Rapids’ west side, said he’s come to expect a 20% to 25% increase in sales volume ahead of extreme weather events.
“We do generally see with inclement weather, in days that precede a storm, an uptick. Naturally, folks just want to hunker down and not brave the elements to go outside,” he said. “Which translates to some increased sales on the front end of inclement weather.”
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