A novel approach to operating a marijuana shop is being presented in the state
Opening a “topless cannabis dispensary” is an idea that has now been floated by the Castaway Club and is undoubtedly catching the attention of the Town of Whately Selectboard. A meeting by the board was held on Thursday, February 16, and owners Julius Sokol and Nicholas Spagnola took the moment to talk about possible plans for Club Castaway, located at 226 State Road.
According to public records, the property was purchased in August 2019 for $425,000. Shortly thereafter, operations closed due to COVID-19. Now, with a reopening in mind in just under two months, the owners of Club Castaway want to make it big, including through a transaction with a cannabis dispensary. Both entrepreneurs approached Whately Selectboard to pitch the idea of opening it as a retail marijuana business.
Spagnola said he is engaging in talks with Shine Diamond LLC with the goal of purchasing its provisional cannabis license issued by the Cannabis Control Commission to open a recreational dispensary. The business partners are still trying to figure out the best use for the property.
“Our goal would be to operate a topless dispensary and eliminate nude dancing and alcohol from the license,” Spagnola said. “Who is going to be topless? It may surprise you, but we’ve never had a shortage of employees who wanted to work at Castaways. I think some of our former employees we’ve worked with would love to be involved in something like this. We are confident that we can create the protocol to create a safe work environment like we did at Castaways. I think we can come up with a framework that works and drives business to the site.”