OFF PAGE ONE
Tuesday, July 26, 2022
East Oregonian
If we are not available,
you can reach us at
info@hermistonchamber.com
or 541.567.6151
Please note - we strive to be out of the office in the community as much as
possible, we are happy to make appointments to meet you in the office.
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
Chris Adams, morning supervisor at Thur’s Smoke Shop,
Pendleton, shows a jar of marijuana buds on Monday,
July 25, 2022. Cannabis prices have fallen in Oregon, and
local dispensaries report customers are tending to buy less
expensive product.
The chamber
office will be
CLOSED
the week of
August 8-12 in
support of the
Farm-City
Pro Rodeo &
Umatilla
County Fair!
Hope to see
you there!
Yasser Marte/East Oregonian
A variety of marijuana jars line shelves Monday, July 25,
2022, at Thur’s Smoke Shop, Pendleton.
done business with go under,
it means Kind Leaf is unable
to purchase a large variety of
Continued from Page A1
edibles or vape pen products.
Jacki Zeckman is the store
“I think we’re seeing a manager of Thur’s Smoke
decline in vices, cannabis Shop, also in Pendleton.
sales in particular,” she said. He said the cannabis busi-
Krenzler also said an over- ness is like a wave, “always
supply of product is pushing up and down,” and it takes
down prices. He pointed to finding the right partners to
Canada as a major source for stay afloat. For the cannabis
customer now, he said, prices
that abundance.
The United States’ north- are better.
ern neighbor has allowed
Thur’s top-shelf cannabis
“huge, major players to come is going for $10 a gram, lower
in,” he said, with massive than some other compet-
greenhouses that come with ing stores, he said, but the
big harvests. Too much prod- business always makes its
uct, and the prices plummet. margins.
That comes with some dire
Thur’s customers have
consequences, he said.
shifted in what they buy, he
Larger farms
said, engag-
and out-of-state “EVERYONE ing in more
far ms might
budget consci-
entious shop-
have more
IS
cushion against
pi ng. W h ile
SPENDING t h e m o n e -
hard economic
tary volume in
times, Kren-
THEIR
zler explained,
the store has
PAYCHECK dropped, foot
and can afford
to lower their
traffic remains
ON FOOD
high.
pr ices and
“I still see
recover to
AND FUEL.
quite a few
keep paying
WHEN
people every
their bills. But
day,” Zeckman
smaller farms
PEOPLE ARE said. “I may not
have less cush-
ion, and some-
SPENDING move as much,
times they have
but I move
MORE ON
investors to pay
more custom-
r-f r ie nd ly
back. The situ-
GAS, FOOD, e items.”
ation allows big
cannabis farms THEY DON’T
Li kewise,
to cannibalize
Kind Leaf has
HAVE AS
small farms.
not experienced
Kind Leaf
a slowdown in
MUCH TO
carries about
the number of
SPEND ON sales, Krenzler
160 strains it
said, but also is
sources from a
variety of farms CANNABIS.” seeing custom-
with a focus on
ers spend their
family-owned,
— Brandon Krenzler,
money differ-
co-owner of Kind Leaf,
e nt ly. T hey
craft farmers,
Pendleton
stock up on
Krenzler said,
cheaper prod-
and not all of
ucts, for exam-
those business
partners are making it.
ple, rather than premium
“We’re seeing a lot of goods.
farms going out of business,”
Like any business, Zeck-
Krenzler said, including a man said, surviving takes
couple of cannabis produc- building partnerships. And in
ers Kind Leaf carries.
cannabis, that means working
“Some of their products out mutually beneficial deals
on our shelves are the final with suppliers all year long.
To get through this,
product,” he said. “There’s
only so much we can do. K r e n z l e r e n c o u r a g e d
Customers everywhere are cannabis consumers to
feeling the same pain. If continue to support their
they’re buying products, favorite farms, so when the
they’re tending toward the economic tide turns, they
cheaper products.”
can produce the variety that
As farms Kind Leaf has people are used to.
Cannabis:
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