MedMen medical marijuana dispensary opens in Midtown TaMaryn Waters, Tallahassee Democrat USA TODAY NETWORK – FLORIDA 11/20/2019 MedMen Enterprises, one of the nation's leading medical marijuana retailers, opened its doors Tuesday morning to the sound of passersby honking their horns in support. Employees dressed in the company's signature crimson bomber jackets and T-shirts and waved at cars on Thomasville Road. The Midtown store represents the company's first Tallahassee site and rapid plans for expansion in Florida. Its 2018 acquisition of Treadwell Nursery in Eustis cleared a path for the publicly traded company to open 25 dispensaries in Florida, including 'coming soon' sites in Deerfield Beach, Fort Lauderdale and Orlando. Nick Hanson, director of governmental affairs for the southeast region, said the company plans to open 10 to 12 by the end of the year. To date, the company has 300,000 customers statewide, Hanson said. “We’ve been soft opened for two weeks, and we’re selling through most of our products,” Hanson said, referring to the local store. “There’s quite a demand as people have realized the outcomes for medical cannabis are truly remarkable and getting off of the traditional pharmaceuticals and turning to medical cannabis.” Inside the Midtown store, deep-set display tables made of walnut showcase the company's three main product lines, which run the gamut in potency and price. The Midtown store sells drops, vapors, tinctures and topical creams. However, the store is waiting on its smokable flower to come in. White tablets and built-in lights offer a posh experience. Employees work behind hickory partitions and a glassed-in space where products are sorted for customers walking in, along with callins and deliveries. “If you didn’t know this was cannabis, if you just looked at the store, we could be selling anything in here,” Hanson said. “It could be an Apple store. We could be selling phones in here. I think that’s what customers want to feel. They want to feel like they are walking into a place with an upbeat tempo, but they want to be relaxed so they can be honest about their needs.” Hanson said the company is striving to create 'an elevated, hip vibe' with its retail store, adding the Midtown location is comparable in size to its other locations. Each one typically has 25 fulland part-time employees. MedMen is the third dispensary to plant its flag in Midtown. It's located on Thomasville Road, across from the Manor at Midtown plaza that's home to RedEye Coffee and Fifth & Thomas. A block away, Curaleaf Tallahassee, the city's largest dispensary, opened in 2018 where Badass Fitness used to be on Thomasville Road. In 2017, KNOX Cannabis, which was rebranded as Fluent, opened its doors near Thomasville and Glenview Drive. Earlier this year, MedMen's half-acre parcel was the center of controversy when a proposed 312-car parking garage was on the table. It would have included 50,000 square feet of commercial space for restaurants, shops and a high-end hotel on top of the five-story structure. Many Midtown business owners welcomed the idea while dozens of residents said it would diminish the neighborhood's cool factor and quality of life. The proposal fizzled and made it possible for MedMen to purchase the property from EMO Family Trust, tied to Tallahassee architect Warren Emo. City Commissioner Jeremy Matlow, the only elected official at Tuesday’s ribbon cutting, said he stopped in to see what was going on once he spotted employees waving from Thomasville Road. He said the company appears to be the right scale for Midtown. “I’m fully in support of renovating old buildings and bringing them back to life,” Matlow said. “I think the build-out here is beautiful with what they’ve done with the spot … It’s very upscale and bright.' When asked why Midtown appears to be a growing hotspot for dispensaries, Matlow said private business will go where there’s demand. Based on registered patients, Florida is the second fastest growing medical marijuana market in the country, according to Marijuana Business Daily. Registered patients represent 1.6% of the state's total population. An article in the Naples Daily News said in North America, where 33 U.S. states have approved medical marijuana, spending on legal cannabis is expected to grow from $9.2 billion in 2017 to $47.3 billion in 2027, according to Arcview Market Research, a cannabisfocused investment firm. MedMen Enterprises has a decade of experience navigating unchartered waters and operates dispensaries in five states, including New York, Nevada and California. It's entering Florida as other retailers have already flooded the medical marijuana market, including Trulieve, a Tallahassee- based company that was the first to sell the smokable flower in the state in 2016 and operates 40 dispensaries statewide, the Florida Office of Medical Marijuana Use reports. MedMen has nine dispensaries in Florida. Hanson said competition is good and all the retailers 'work together as an industry.' 'From MedMen’s perspective, this is a movement,” he said. “We view our competitive partners as just that, partners. We work together. We talk together. It’s a friendly and healthy competition and I think we are all striving for the same thing. More access to adults and for children who have medical needs.” - - - Contact TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@ tallahassee.com or follow @Ta-MarynWaters on Twitter.