SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – San Francisco’s first and only Black woman-owned cannabis store is at risk of closing. Now, the store's owners are trying to raise enough money to keep the pharmacy open, but it's a difficult task.
Owner Reece Benton has just a few weeks left to raise the money to buy the space. The building's current owner said it would be sold when the lease expires.
Benton said her dispensary, Posh Green Cannabis Boutique, is a good addition to the neighborhood and she doesn't want another small business tragedy to happen. It's the only pharmacy in Hunter's Point, but she needs $200,000 to make her dream come true.
“I want to stay here so we can have Black women-owned businesses in this community,” Benton said.
Benton said she has endured several challenges, including crime and the COVID-19 pandemic, to keep her Innes Avenue business afloat. Benton now faces a new hurdle as her landlord wants to sell the space on May 31, when her lease expires.
“We turned this into a community, so why should we be shut out after weathering the storm and helping bring other businesses here?” she asked.
Benton said she understands it's difficult for small businesses everywhere, but it's even more difficult for cannabis stores, which remain illegal in the eyes of the federal government. Ms. Benton was born and raised in San Francisco, she said, and her boutique has been a positive addition to her neighborhood.
“No one in this area believed it,” she said. “When I came here for crime, no one wanted to be on this block. I took a chance on this neighborhood, and now bus drivers wave at me, The police come and wave at me, and some people don't even come here and say hello.”
Benton says it's unpleasant to have to ask for money to keep things going, but it's worth the fight.
“I'm confident because I didn't ask for this trip,” she said. “Because I'm faithful, I know that God never comes when I want, but He always makes a way, and He always makes a way at the last minute.”
Posh Green Cannabis Boutique has set up a GoFundMe, which has raised more than $8,000 as of this report.
This number is still quite far from the goal. But Benton says she's really grateful for the support they've gotten.
