Still In The Weeds, Chicago Pot Shops Get Ready For Big Sales Away From Lollapalooza:
A different kind of smoke is going to begin coming from the area around Grant Park, a month after the fumes from NASCAR stock cars has gone away.
The yearly Lollapalooza music event is coming back on Thursday for four days of music, partying, and, if the past is any indication, a lot of business for nearby Chicago pot shops.
Lollapalooza Has Become A Significant Day For The Burgeoning Cannabis Industry After Three Years Of Legalization:
Now that recreational weed sales have been legal for three years, Lollapalooza has grown into a big day for the new business. Lollapalooza is an American music event that takes place every year for four days within Grant Park within Chicago, Illinois.
Even though it began out as a traveling event in 1991, it is now held every year in Chicago. Lollapalooza 2023 will last for four days, from August 3 to August 6. It will have a weekend schedule with several well-known acts.
How To Watch The 2023 Lollapalooza
On August 3, 2023, at 2:05 p.m. EST, the Lollapalooza 2023 livestream began on Hulu.
Billie Eilish kicked off the festival, and other big-name performers include Karol G, Kendrick Lamar, The 1975, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Odseza, Lana Del Rey, Tomorrow x Together, and more.
On the two online channels, only people who pay for Hulu are able to view the event. Here’s what will happen at the much-anticipated event.
“It’s definitely our biggest weekend of the year at any of our Illinois stores in terms of the number of customers we saw and the number of new customers we got to introduce to recreational cannabis,” said Jason Erkes, a spokesman for Chicago-based Cresco Labs, which owns the Sunnyside dispensary closest to Grant Park.
Chicago Has Hosted Lollapalooza Since 2005:
Lollapalooza started in 1991 and has been held in Chicago since 2005. It has become a major tourist attraction for the city, bringing in hundreds of thousands of festivalgoers and putting millions of dollars into the local economy.
Lollapalooza was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it came back in 2021 with a new twist for the first time in the festival’s 30-year history, marijuana was allowed for adults to use.
Since then, weed companies have used the event to promote special deals. This has made Lollapalooza a sales success for shops in the area.
Sunnyside Pharmacy On North Clark Street Served More Than 4,000 People During Lollapalooza:
Last summer, during Lollapalooza, the Sunnyside pharmacy upon North Clark Street within River North served more than 4,000 people. Erkes thinks that number will go up this year.
To speed up the process, Sunnyside is adding a larger outdoor waiting area upon the street within front of the store. Customers can order from a fast festival menu and then walk the mile to the north gate of the festival.
First 200 People Who Buy Anything From Sunnyside Upon Thursday Will Receive $30 Vape Pen For $1:
To boost early sales, the initial 200 people who buy anything at Sunnyside on Thursday will receive a $30 vape pen for only $1. Erkes said that under state law, cannabis businesses can’t give away free doobies.
Last year, the Verilife pharmacy upon West Superior Street within River North saw twice as many customers as usual during Lollapalooza.
Cannabus Shuttle Service Is Not Available During Event:
This was helped by a parked bus that served as a pop-up smoking room and a free shuttle to the event, according to Melissa Buckley, a spokesperson for the company. This summer, the “smoking bus” will be back, yet the “cannabus” shuttle service won’t.
The old Greyhound bus that was turned into a mobile pot club was smokeier than Willie Nelson’s tour bus last summer, when more than 2,000 people smoked on it during Lollapalooza, Buckley stated Wednesday.
During the event, the bus where people smoke will be stopped again in front of the pharmacy.
Verilife Also Provided A Pair Of Shuttle Buses Between Grant Park And It’s Shop:
Last year, Verilife additionally provided a pair of shuttle buses between Grant Park as well as its store every 20 minutes. These buses took about 700 people to the event.
But traffic made them less useful than expected, and Buckley said that many buyers found it faster to walk the 1.5 miles to Lollapalooza. “There was just a lot of traffic,” Buckley explained.
At The Event There Are Lot Of Sponsors For Drink But Weed Is Not A Official Part Of Event:
“So this year, instead of busing people back and forth, we decided to put a little more effort into having a party right outside our location.” There are a lot of sponsors for drink at Lollapalooza, like Bud Light and Bacardi, but weed isn’t an official part of the party.
Marijuana products have always been a part of outdoor music events like Lollapalooza, but it’s still not clear how people use them there. The Lollapalooza website says that smoking of any kind, including vaping, is banned in all Chicago parks.
Buckley Said That He Is Seeing The Ripple Effect At Some Of Their Store:
“We are seeing the ripple effect at a few of our stores,” Buckley stated. “We have a location within Rosemont that you pass on your way from the airport into the city, so this location also does well.”
PharmaCann, a private weed business based in Chicago that started in 2014 and has locations in eight states, including eight stores in Illinois, owns Verilife.
The State Of Illinois Allowed Cresco To Have 10 Retail:
Cresco Labs was started in 2013. It now has 14 production sites and 68 clinics in 10 states, all of which are called Sunnyside. Cresco has the highest number of retail stores allowed by the state of Illinois, which is 10. It also has production sites in Joliet, Kankakee, as well as Lincoln.
Cresco said on Monday that it was ending its planned $2 billion megamerger alongside New York based Columbia Care because of changes in the market, such as falling stock prices, tighter credit, and flat sales in the industry.
Legal Weed Sales Crossed $1.55 Billion Within Last Year:
Last year, legal weed sales passed $1.55 billion, which is a 12.6% increase from the year before. But the speed has slowed this year. In the initial 6 months, leisure sales were $784 million, which is a 4.5% increase from the same time last year.
