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This story was reprinted with permission from Crain’s Detroit and written by Jay Davis.
The company ranked as the best-selling cannabis vape brand in the country and the best-selling cannabis brand in California has picked Michigan for its first non-Golden State location.
Stiiizy, headquartered in Los Angeles, this weekend will open its newest location, in Ferndale. Stiiizy, owned by L.A.-based cannabis holding company The Shryne Group, will host a grand opening from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. at 642 E. Nine Mile Road.
The nearly 10,000-square-foot dispensary will include Stiiizy’s indoor-grown flower, along with concentrates, pods, infused blunts and pre-rolls, according to a news release. The store will also sell edibles, vapes and topical creams.
Aside from cannabis products, Stiiizy also offers a clothing line and skateboard decks, along with smoking accessories that are available online.
Saturday’s grand opening will see Stiiizy offer free items. Visitors to the store will find food trucks, music and games on site. Discounts on some products will be offered, according to the release. Detroit rappers Icewear Vezzo, Snap Dogg and Stewe, along with Toronto artist Torey Lanez will be on-site for a meet-and-greet.
The opening of the store is not Stiiizy’s introduction to Michigan. Stiiizy in 2021 along with the Michigan Urban Farming Initiative hosted a “Grow Where You’re Planted” event that provided sustainable gardening education to children at the MUFI urban farm in Detroit. STIIIZY earlier this year partnered with the Easterseals Miracle League, which removes barriers for children with mental and physical disabilities to play baseball and kickball, for the first “Kicking for a Cause charity kickball tournament on May 22 in Orion Township. The event invited teams from various communities like Rochester Hills and Macomb Township to compete on the field, and in fundraising for a new accessible field in Orion Township’s Friendship Park.
Customers will walk into a space completely redesigned by the cannabis company.
The Nine Mile space is owned by Stiiizy, which completed a buildout to expand on the property space, Sato said in an email. Sato declined to disclose the purchase price. Sato also declined to disclose revenue projections.
Founded in 2017 by former U.S. servicemember James Kim, the company brings in about $300 million in annual revenue, according to an April 2022 Forbes report.
David Nykanen, president of Troy-based Midwest Title LLC, whose company has insured more than $100 million in cannabis properties, described the location as one of the best for recreational cannabis because of its proximity to Detroit, where it is not yet available. The Stiiizy store is a half-mile east of Woodward Avenue and about a mile west of I-75.
“That’s, to me, one of the better locations for a dispensary,” Nykanen said.
The building was sold less than a year ago for an undisclosed price to SGI Ferndale RE LLC, whose business incorporation documents with the state list Jena Krzeminski as its organizer. Her LinkedIn page identifies her as the former manager of legal affairs for Shryne Group.
Kim is taking advantage of one of the few Oakland County markets that allow recreational marijuana sales. Stiiizy will be the sixth dispensary in Ferndale. Ferndale, Hazel Park, Madison Heights, Orion Township, Pontiac, Walled Lake and Waterford Township are the only Oakland County communities that allow recreational marijuana sales.
Ferndale officials did not return requests for comment.
The opening of the Ferndale store, which will operate 9 a.m.-9 p.m. daily, will create more than 40 new jobs, the company said.
“Our retail design is done so that cannabis retail can fit in on any main street or commercial district and be a point of pride for the community,” Sato said. “We focus on security and abiding by the local regulations. We stand for safe access and do all possible to support the regulated market.”
Crain’s real estate reporter Kirk Pinho contributed to this story.
