Trulieve, a medical marijuana treatment center, has opened its second location in Brevard. This one is in Titusville.
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Trulieve officials hope to open a medical marijuana dispensary in Titusville on Monday — aka 4/20, the annual cannabis holiday — using special safety protocols amid the COVID-19 health crisis.
The Titusville location is the company’s second in Brevard County. The address is 3055 Columbia Blvd., Suite B110, inside the former Payless ShoeSource storefront next to Marshalls.
Monday’s opening date is pending Florida Department of Health approval, said Tim Morey, Trulieve chief sales officer.
“The customer experience during the pandemic obviously has shifted significantly,” Morey said.
“We encourage everybody to order online ahead of time. And when they come into the location, they’ll be met by one of our Tru hosts that will have an iPad,” he said.
“If you’re a walk-in or a pickup order, they’ll put you into our queue and take your phone number. And then we’ll ask you to remain outside for social distancing. And then we will text them when they’re next up,” he said.
Trulieve opened its first Space Coast medical marijuana dispensary in March 2019 just outside West Melbourne city limits on West New Haven Avenue.
That marijuana treatment center was Trulieve’s 26th in Florida. The Titusville store is No. 46.
“We look at where our patients come from. We deliver statewide, so we have the ability to see where concentrations of patients are,” Morey said.
“Due to demand, this (Titusville Trulieve) store is caught between Melbourne and Edgewater. We’ve seen the demand at those locations coming from this area, traveling to those stores,” he said.
“We look at what our patients are telling us, as well as what our doctors are telling us, as far as where that need might be,” he said.
Morey said about 25 employees will work at the new store. In light of the coronavirus pandemic, the Titusville store features:
• Medical-grade air scrubbers to clean the interior atmosphere.
• Floor stickers at 6-foot intervals for customers.
• Plexiglass sneeze guards at points of sale.
Morey said customers are encouraged to wear masks.
“When it first hit, we saw a significant spike because everybody was afraid that our businesses were going to be closed down,” Morey said of marijuana sales during the pandemic.
“And then it’s kind of normalized and stayed steady. People have realized we are an essential business for medical purposes, so we’re not closing,” he said.
More: Trulieve medical marijuana dispensary opens near West Melbourne on New Haven Avenue
More: Palm Bay passes marijuana ordinance, sets civil penalties for low-level offenders
A traditional grand opening ceremony will not occur because new Trulieve stores typically draw large crowds, Morey said.
Rather, online sales will likely launch Saturday for the new Titusville store, Morey said. Employees will schedule staggered pickup times for customers, starting Monday.
Immunocompromised patients can schedule daily pickup times from 9 to 10 a.m. Free delivery is available for patients age 65 and older, he said.
Trulieve also operates in California, Massachusetts and Connecticut. Titusville’s first medical marijuana dispensary, Curaleaf, opened in January 2019 on South Washington Avenue.
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Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1. To subscribe: https://cm.floridatoday.com/specialoffer/
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