CANNASAIPAN held a ribbon cutting ceremony on Saturday, July 13 in Garapan to officially open its doors.
The new dispensary is located on Beach Road, across from Garapan Fishing Base, south of Kristo Rai Church. It is open seven days a week. From Monday to Saturday, it operates from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. On Sundays it operates from noon to 6 p.m.
CannaSaipan is the business that “absorbed” CanaMarianas, which was located in Chalan Kiya before its owner Louis Rodgers closed it earlier this month. Rodgers told Variety that economic challenges — including a decline in sales revenue — were behind his decision to shut down CanaMarianas.
At CannaSaipan, Roger Renguul, bud tender and store supervisor, said they offer ice cream cake, black runtz, gellato, pink runtz and purple gellato flowers for sale.
Renguul was an employee at CanaMarianas and VaprSpot for years while they were located in Chalan Kiya. VaprSpot, which is also owned by Rodgers, is also now located at CannaSaipan.
Renguul feels “lucky” that Rodgers was able to secure a spot for him and his CanaMarianas coworkers at CannaSaipan.
He said local leaders can support the cannabis industry by helping them market their legal products.
“Basically, making [cannabis] known,” he said. “[It shouldn’t be] just us marketing cannabis, but the government, too, should market cannabis … because they legalized it. … It can’t just be us people who market weed. It has to collectively be the government and the people. If they can do that, I believe this cannabis industry can go farther.”
At the ribbon cutting ceremony, Rodgers said as the local economy continues to “sour” the customers’ buying power will decrease.
“When people have less money they’re shopping for discounts,” he said.
But he also believes that CannaSaipan store owner Connie Palacios has an efficient cannabis operation that will allow her to navigate the economy.
“Her farm is extremely efficient so that affords her the ability to be able to have some comfortably low prices,” he said. “Her mindset is let’s try to make it as affordable as possible without having to sacrifice quality. I believe the flexibility is in place to adjust as needed to meet the lower economic factors.”
Rodgers, who plans to leave the island near the end of this year, is currently general manager of CannaSaipan.
“I’ll still be dialed in to provide whatever assistance she needs,” he told Variety, saying that his role in the business can also be fulfilled remotely. “I would feel at ease knowing that I can play whatever role is necessary wherever I am to be able to make things function here seamlessly.”
He invites adults to visit the store.
“Come check out CannaSaipan. I think it will be worth your wallet and worth your visit and definitely going to be worth your experience to indulge in some of the products that we have available,” he said.
Louis Rodgers, left, and Connie Palacios, right, cut the ceremonial ribbon to officially open CannaSaipan on Saturday.
The new dispensary is located on Beach Road, across from Garapan Fishing Base, south of Kristo Rai Church. It is open seven days a week.
Roger Renguul, right, is a bud tender and supervisor at CannaSaipan. He said the government can support the legalized cannabis industry by helping promote it.
