Greenhouse Dispensary wants to bring more than cannabis to downtown Brandon

By STEVEN JUPITER

GREENHOUSE DISPENSARY CO-OWNER Ellie Romp on the velvet couch that helps create the welcoming, bohemian vibe. Ms. Romp has been active in the local music community for years and is looking forward to making the dispensary about more than just cannabis. Photos by Steven Jupiter

BRANDON—A green-velvet Victorian sofa and antique display cabinets immediately set the vintage vibe when you enter Greenhouse Dispensary’s new shop across from the Dunkin’ Donuts on Conant Square in downtown Brandon. Though a cannabis dispensary, the space isn’t filled with cliches of pot culture. Instead, it feels cozy and bohemian, like you could curl up on the couch with a cup of chamomile and a novel. 

This was by design, said co-owner Ellie Romp, who just opened the store with her business partner Dan Lovely. The idea is to create a comfortable space that feels like a friend’s place rather than a dispensary. Romp and Lovely plan to continue expanding their offerings beyond cannabis and related products.

Greenhouse has already planned an evening of music to celebrate its grand opening on Saturday, February 8. The performances will be held at Sister Wicked starting at 7 and will feature Bird Boombox, Fly By Ride, and End User. There will be music, refreshments, and a raffle for non-cannabis products at the store during the day. 

Greenhouse will host musical evenings at Sister Wicked the second Saturday of every month going forward, as part of their desire to integrate into the community.

“Music has always been a big part of my life,” said Romp, who can often be heard singing and playing fiddle at Red Clover’s Thursday Open Mic. “I built a strong connection to a lovely community here in Brandon through music.”

Romp had run a dispensary called Epona Farm in the back of the Green Mountain Smoke Shop down on Route 7, but when the Smoke Shop changed ownership last year, she decided that it was time for her to find a retail space in downtown. The idea to incorporate music into the plan came to her and Lovely when they found the space on Conant Square and saw how its interior layout, with an upstairs loft that overlooks the main sales floor, could lend itself to something more than a dispensary.

Because it shares the building with two residential units, Greenhouse has tried to keep the music playing lowkey in the retail space, but the upstairs loft is occupied by a music shop.

THE UPSTAIRS SPACE houses Greenhouse Guitars, which specializes in used and vintage musical instruments. The store is a separate business from the dispensary downstairs and is run by musician Adam Dewey.

The shop, called “Greenhouse Guitars,” is a separate business from the dispensary and is run by Romp’s friend, musician Adam Dewey. The music shop features second-hand instruments—guitars, mandolins, violins, and drums—ranging from entry-level to collector’s items. Dewey also has for sale an assortment of other vintage items, such as violinmaker’s tools, furniture, and even some vintage clothing. For anyone interested in swapping their instrument for something different, Dewey said he’s open to trades as well.

As with the dispensary downstairs, Greenhouse Guitars is set up almost like a living room where friends can drop in and strum a guitar while chatting with Dewey, who has had a long and varied career in music.

An overarching theme throughout the whole upstairs/downstairs operation is a desire to be part of the local community. Eighty percent of the cannabis Greenhouse sells is sourced in the area, either grown by Romp and Lovely on their own local farm or purchased from other nearby cultivators.

“Northern Rutland County and southern Addison are what I call the ‘Emerald Triangle,’” laughed Romp, in reference to the abundance of cannabis cultivation in the region.

That abundance brings challenges as well as advantages. Including Greenhouse, Brandon will soon have four dispensaries, a concentration that has raised concerns among some residents that Brandon will be seen as a “drug town.” Romp said that Greenhouse is catering to the same crowd that frequents craft breweries like Red Clover and Foley Brothers. 

She added that dispensaries are simply keeping pace with changing social habits.

“Young people don’t drink alcohol the way older generations did,” she said. “Cannabis is a much more common way for them to engage socially and recreationally.”

And to emphasize the social aspects of cannabis culture, Greenhouse will be hosting a Saturday morning chess club (Romp is an avid amateur player) from 11 to 1. All levels are welcome, though you must be at least 21 to enter the store.

The proximity of other dispensaries in a small town doesn’t faze Romp, either.

“I wouldn’t want to be successful just because I had a monopoly,” she said. “Having competition means I have to be creative and offer something different from the others.”

Greenhouse is open 10 to 7 Monday through Saturday and from 10 to 5 on Sunday. It’s located on Conant Square in downtown Brandon, right across from Dunkin’ Donuts. Parking is available in the municipal lot behind the Dunkin’ Donuts.

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