Business View Magazine | May 2019

328 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE MAY 2019 they’d licensed alcohol, and we thought – this is the chance of five lifetimes to be here for one of the last sins that prohibition ends. “So, in 2014, we applied and got a medical cannabis license, opened our first store in 2016, and got a recreational license when that was legalized on July 1, 2017. We were six miles southwest of Mandalay Bay – along with 46 other people, that was a lot of dispensaries fighting for 2.3 million locals. We thought, why are we arguing about 2.3 million people when there are 55 million visitors on the strip? So, we did our homework and looked at all the zoning; you cannot sell or have a dispensary within the gaming corridor - that’s about a mile either side of the strip. But there was a donut hole they’d zoned around – 2,500 feet from Wynn’s front door at the heart of the strip. “We found a 112,000-sq.-ft. building we liked, and it took us a year to talk the landlord into leasing it to us. Our first phase we opened was 40,000 sq. ft., for offices and dispensary. Trident Construction is our general contractor. This was an old, tired building – great bones – but it was just a giant warehouse cooler. Everybody told us there was no way we’d get it done in five months. Trident made it possible. We could not have done it without them, they were fantastic. And our interior designer, Brianna Tiberdi, from TSquared was amazing to work with. Those two groups were paramount in executing our outrageous time frames. In March 2019, we broke ground on 23,000 sq. ft more for a coffee shop, a bistro, and a 15,000-sq.-ft. customer-facing production facility.” BVM: What kind of unique “experience” do you provide? Scheffler: “Being in Las Vegas, we tried to out- Vegas Vegas with shows we imported from around the world. From floating orbs, the first permanent installation in the western hemisphere, to the 18-foot diameter ball out front with water coming over it, to interactive floors when you first walk into the building that are like giant iPads – 10 ft. by 16 ft.– it’s like walking across a koi pond. PLANET 13 HOLDINGS , INC .