More than 30 retail outlets selling hemp products in the Chattanooga areabut the latest CBD retailer to enter the Chattanooga market says it will offer a more convenient shopping experience than THC with a range of cannabis-related products.
Lee VanTine is bringing its newest Apotheca CBD and Hemp Markets stores to Chattanooga, opening the company’s 25th outlet Thursday with a new storefront at 1906 Gunbarrel Road.
“There is a huge demand for topical cannabis, tinctures, foods, concentrates and flowers, especially in states that have not yet legalized it,” VanTine, owner of the Apotheca chain, said in an announcement about the company’s new store. “But finding good, sustainable products has been a bit questionable.”
VanTine opened its first store in North Carolina’s Apotheca CBD in 2019 and has since expanded with other stores in Charlotte, Greensboro, Asheville, North Carolina and markets and in Knoxville and Kingsport, Tennessee. He plans to add at least two stores in the Atlanta market.
The new Chattanooga store opens at 8 a.m. on Thursdays. VanTine said he sees potential throughout the Southeast and it’s growing even bigger from there, one store at a time.
Under the 2018 Farm Act that legalized industrial hemp, all hemp plants grown as industrial hemp contain less than 0.3% delta-9 THC, the psychoactive chemical that causes the high. Hemp products sold at Apotheca and other CBD outlets are legal even in southern states where regular marijuana is still illegal to grow and possess.
“Hemp is a complex plant,” VanTine said in a press release about Apotheca. “With Prohibition just ending, we are still learning about its amazing properties. There are hundreds of chemicals within the plant that have been used by mankind for centuries.”
There are hundreds of products legally derived from the cannabis plant in Apotheca. VanTine said his stores are stocked with nutritionals, topicals, tinctures, concentrates, and the cannabis flower itself.
“There has been a lot of innovation since 2018,” he said.
“The new ones include dope gum, delta-8 THC, delta-9 THC (yes, the same product as in legal hemp, but derived from hemp), delta-10 and delta-11 THC too. There’s also HHC, THC-O, THC-V , THC-A, CBG, CBN and the list only grows.”
The Apotheca brand has grown to include kratom items and other supplements. Some Apotheca stores also carry farm-fresh items such as cheese, jams, cheese, and even ice cream.
“Apotheca offers a shopping experience like no other, with hundreds of products and friendly staff to help find what works best for them,” said VanTine.
– Posted by Dave Fleisner
