Group applies to become Aspen’s seventh pot shop
The Aspen Times
A local group has applied to take over Aspen Green Dragon’s former medical marijuana space and open the city’s seventh recreational cannabis dispenser.
Robert Holmes and Peter Tramm, co-owners of Aspen-based Roots RX, submitted their local application Thursday for the 665-square-foot space at 400 E. Hyman Ave. Roots RX owns and operates recreational stores in Basalt and Eagle. It also owns a 14,000-square-foot grow facility on 44 acres in Eagle County and two grow licenses in Leadville, according to the application.
Holmes is the owner of two broker-dealer operations, while Tramm is the owner and operator of MML LLC, a medical marijuana growing facility and dispensary founded in 2009.
Roots RX would join a list of six other cannabis dispensers in Aspen, including Aspen Green Dragon, Alternative Medical Solutions, Native Roots Aspen, Leaf Aspen, Stash and Silverpeak Apothecary. Green Dragon was running a medical shop out of 400 E. Hyman Ave. before it consolidated that operation with its recreational store on the Hyman Avenue pedestrian mall. The Glenwood Springs-based company is currently negotiating an $8 million sale with Greenwerkz, a Denver-based cannabis company.
When asked if Aspen can support seven cannabis shops, Tramm said Friday that the amount of competition is probably a stretch.
“I think there’s some folks that probably aren’t running as tight a ship as they probably could,” Tramm said. “We are very thrifty in how we operate.”
He said the 11 acres of growing operation Roots RX is developing in Leadville will allow it to cultivate some of the “best cannabis in the world.”
“We feel that being able to grow at 10,200 feet, it gives us a huge advantage to folks that are not at that altitude,” he said, adding that similar to athletes, marijuana that can tolerate higher altitudes is stronger and healthier.
Tramm, who used to manage a cannabis business in Aspen, regarded the town as “home turf.” Ideally, he said the shop will open in July, though if it ends up being August or September, that’s OK, too.
“We’re not looking at Aspen as, ‘Oh, geez, we’re there for a few ski seasons and we’re gone.’ It’s where we live,” Tramm said. “We hope to have a shop in Aspen for 20, 30 years.”
The application states that the shop plans to offer beverages, candies, cookies, oils and extracts along with other compliant food products.