BANGOR TOWNSHIP (WJRT) – (12/26/19) – Friday morning a Bangor Township store will become the first in Bay County to legally sell recreational marijuana.

The provisioning center along Wilder Road near N. Euclid Avenue is expecting a long line when they open at 9 a.m.

“We’re making history,” said Briana Serrato, a retail manager with Pharmaco Inc. which owns Roots. “I’m excited to start tomorrow, I want to start today actually, but you know we want to get the store together.”

The facility, Roots Provisioning, was the first in Bay County to be approved for a recreational retail license from the state. The business already serves medical marihuana patients.

“Whole new ball game, we are opening up for recreational,” Serrato said. “We’re very excited to just be in the community.”

Moving forward Roots will sell to both medical and recreational users.

It’s important to note that the supply for medical and recreational is separate. That means recreational users can’t buy from the medical section.

Roots does expect to sell out of their recreational products as supply hasn’t quite met demand just yet in this brand-new, legal industry.

Michigan voters approved recreational use in November of 2018.

“We want everyone to feel like you’re not doing a backhanded deal,” Serrato said.

Friday Roots plans to have customers wait outside for their turn to come in.

They tell us they plan to have a food truck for those waiting, and staff members will keep customers updated about what’s still available.

“We are going to have very limited product to offer. We do have flower available, as well as cartridges. Edibles as well,” Serrato said. “We do encourage our patients and customers to get here early as possible.”

Serrato explained visiting Roots is similar to going to a bar. “You’re coming up to a bartender and you’re saying, ‘hey, let me get my Cosmo, you know it’s been a long day’. And we’re more than welcome to bring you up a stool and sit you down and have a conversation with you.”

At Roots the people behind the counter are “budtenders”.

While some customers may know what products they want, for others this may be a brand new experience. “We’re going to make sure we know what you’re looking for, ask you probably more questions than you’re going to ask us,” Serrato said.

A limited number of customers are allowed in the facility at a time which will likely require people to wait outside.

“We like to control the traffic just a little bit. We want to give everyone that one on one time. We don’t want anyone to feel rushed or feel like they just need to get in and out. If you have questions we are here to answer every single question,” Serrato said.

Roots is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 27.