King of Prussia offers more than high fashion: Its 3rd medical marijuana shop opens next week

The region’s go-to destination for high fashion is fast developing into a center for retail cannabis.

With the opening of the Rise Dispensary on Nov. 26, King of Prussia will be home to three medical marijuana shops, all near America’s largest retail mall.

Rise is the retail subsidiary of Green Thumb Industries (GTI), a multi-state operator based in Chicago. GTI was founded by Ben Kovler, an heir to the Jim Beam bourbon fortune. The company’s cannabis footprint extends to a dozen states. It also has seven retail dispensaries scattered across the commonwealth.

The new dispensary at 445 W. DeKalb Pike — less than a mile from the mall — will hold an open house Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m.

No product will be available for sale until Tuesday, but the open house marks a rare opportunity for nonpatients to see the inside of a state-approved marijuana retailer.

That’s because the Pennsylvania Department of Health forbids access to dispensaries to anyone who is not a patient or an employee. Staff members and GTI executives will be on hand to answer questions about the medical marijuana program.

The property is a former mattress showroom nestled between a bank and a vitamin shop. Other medical marijuana retailers in King of Prussia include Herbology at 110 N. Warner Rd. and Keystone Shops at 367 S. Henderson Rd.

It is unclear whether Rise King of Prussia will have a full line of dried flower available when it opens. According to the state Health Department, the rapid growth in the number of dispensaries has caused a drought of flower across the state. The department has said each new retailer that opens increases demand for product and that until more growers begin shipping, there will be sporadic shortages.

Industry insiders, however, say the flower shortage was caused by a humid Pennsylvania summer. The wetter-than-average season caused crops to be struck with mold. There is still plenty of product for sale across the state, as weed can be processed into its constituent oils for vaping, tinctures, and salves. But the state’s 180,000 registered patients overwhelmingly prefer to smoke flower.

GTI announced on Nov. 12 it would sell its Danville cultivation facility for $20.3 million to Innovative Industrial Properties. GTI will continue to operate the growhouse and processor in a lease-back agreement with IIP.

For more information about Pennsylvania’s medical marijuana program, visit medicalmarijuana.pa.gov. For the Inquirer’s coverage of the cannabis industry -- and weed in all its forms -- click on Inquirer.com/cannabis