HoneyGrove opened the 45th New Jersey medical cannabis dispensary in South Jersey today in Gloucester Township in Camden County.
They like to spell “HoneyGrove” as one word.
HoneyGrove is the second New Jersey medical cannabis dispensary to open in Gloucester Township after MPX NJ.
By Heady NJ’s calculation, it is the 17th in South Jersey (if you include Burlington County and exclude Ocean County.)
HoneyGrove is located at 1337 Blackwood Clementon Rd in Gloucester Township. It was previously a Friendly’s restaurant which has been unoccupied for some time.
HoneyGrove won a license during the 2019/2021 medical cannabis license round.
“It took forever. It’s a process,” HoneyGrove Director of Operations Josh Bell noted.
The NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission sent a letter to owner Valerie Del Vecchio announcing the win.
In 2005, she launched a medical billing and consulting firm, Alternate Billing Solutions, managing accounts receivable in medical specialties like physical therapy, chiropractic, orthopedics, internal medicine, physiatry, sleep studies, hospital procedures, psychology, and mental health. By the time Del Vecchio sold her company to a longtime employee in 2019, she had built seven staff members servicing ten companies.
Del Vecchio sold her company to focus on medical cannabis.
She and her family support local and national charities like the Susan G. Komen Central and South Jersey Affiliate, Goodwill, and the REACH Foundation.
Del Vecchio lives in Holmdel in Monmouth County.
Bell previously worked for a Multi-State Operator (MSO) cannabis corporation Holistic Industries as their Chief Operator Officer (COO).
He was an Operational Consultant for HoneyGrove as they applied for the license. Bell is part of a firm with friends that consults with small independent cannabis companies. He lives in Western Massachusetts.
New Jersey Medical Cannabis Patient Focus
“We’re really focused on patients interactions, on that one-on-one care,” Bell explained.
When a New Jersey medical cannabis patient gets a prescription, all they get is a piece of paper that says they can shop in a store. It is unlike a regular medical prescription which is for a specific medication for a specific dosage.
Thus, in medical cannabis, the budtender acts as a pharmacist and doctor when advising New Jersey medical cannabis patients.
So training budtenders is a big issue Bell noted. He noted that a good budtender can help patients throughout their visit.
He is working with Seth Tomilson, previously of Curaleaf, who is the General Manager and handled hiring.
“Our staff is phenomenal,” Bell exclaimed. “We’re really excited.”
Wednesday Mayer of the Sativa Cross advocacy group has worked for a few dispensaries and is joining their staff.
Operating an NJ Medical Cannabis Dispensary in Gloucester Township
“We hope to start making an impact in Gloucester Township. It’s really exciting. It’s great to be there,” Bell declared. “Gloucester Township has been really amazing and supportive of us throughout the process. We have really enjoyed our work with the municipality and all aspects of permitting. People were super helpful.”
“They were really excited that property was going to get renovated,” he added.
Bell noted HoneyGrove has a large parking lot to accommodate many customers.
“We’re really excited about fostering partnerships with the 2019 cultivators,” he added.
HoneyGrove has sought to establish a social media following.
Where are New Jersey’s Medical Cannabis Dispensaries?
New Jersey now has many medical cannabis dispensaries. They are:
- Aunt Mary’s dispensary in Flemington
- Valley Wellness in Raritan Borough.
- Breakwater in Roselle.
- Sweetspot (an MSO) in Voorhees.
- Atlantic City.
- TerrAscend, an MSO) in Lodi.
- TerrAscend, an MSO) in Maplewood.
- Apothecarium (owned by TerrAscend, an MSO.) in Phillipsburg.
- formerly Garden State Dispensary) in Woodbridge.
- Garden State Dispensary) in Eatontown.
- Green Thumb Industries, an MSO) in Bloomfield.
- Columbia Care, an MSO) in Deptford.
- The Botanist (owned by Acreage Holdings, an MSO) in Williamstown.
- Botanist (owned by Acreage Holdings) in Egg Harbor.
- Atlantic City.
- Ascend Wellness (an MSO) in Fort Lee
- Zen Leaf (owned by Verano, an MSO) in Lawrence Township.
- Zen Leaf (owned by Verano) in Elizabeth.
- Zen Leaf (owned by Verano) in Neptune Township.
- Bordentown Township.
- Curaleaf (an MSO) in Bellmawr.
- Edgewater Park.
