From left, Vice President Store Operations & Sales Daryl Houston, with Purchaser Connor Borland
VICTORIA – Original Farm Cannabis recently celebrated their 10th anniversary in business, something their local owners and team members are very, very proud of.
“During our decade, we’ve made the transition from pre legalization through to regulatory legalization and being a local business for 10 years, that is proud to be a part of the communities we serve,” says Vice President of Store Operations and Sales Daryl Houston. “We have made it because we have a clear vision of staying true to ourselves, and we’ve intentionally been informative and educational for our customers, providing a variety of options for them, as we’ve been in the forefront of the new changes and products coming to the industry.”
Day one was April 1, 2015, in our Hillside location, now one of four locations, including another one in Downtown Victoria, along with Langford and Duncan, and they now have over 80 employees.
Purchaser Connor Borland has been with the company for over eight years, and notes a lot of work has gone into breaking the stigma that had been historically attached to cannabis stores.
“We have clean stores where your grandmother can come in and feel safe,” he notes. “ That was our goal from day one, to help people learn about cannabis, whether they’re 19 or 95 years old.
The interior of the Original Farm Cannabis outlet in Langford
“When I started serving customers, they had no clue about who we were and what we could offer them, but now they’re comfortable as we’ve shown them a safe entry in to the cannabis world. We have a number of seniors customers, who have learned they don’t need to get high or smoke, as we have other products and applications. That’s been the really fun part of it.”
At first, the operation was called Farmacy, but that had to change due to the possibility of linking it to pharmacy, since the products they sell are not medicinal – even though customers avow the products help them with insomnia and calming nerves, amongst other benefits.
As Original Farm started prior to the legalization of marijuana, it offered flower bud and pre-rolled cannabis and a few other related products. Today, it comes in all types of applications.
“Edibles are massively popular, and beverages are a growing category, and we offer discreet vaping devices, which are growing in popularity,” says Houston. “Our menu is unmatched in what we are able to source and bring in, and we cover a variety of categories and items that is very hard for other cannabis stores to match.”
Original Farm has also invested significantly in technology, and they take photos of all the products they sell and put them on their website.
Original Farm Cannabis stores are fully stocked and tastefully organized for easy viewing
“Our employees are called ‘Budtenders’, and they show the products displayed on-screen, interactively for our customers,” Borland states. “They can literally show them everything from 1,200 items or narrow it down to just one to make it easier for them to make a choice.”
Customer demand and competition has expedited options for online sales and delivery, which has enabled them to get their product to areas they previously were not able to reach.
“In places where there aren’t cannabis stores, or for people with mobility or accessibility issues, we can provide service right to their front door,” Houston observes. “We are the only cannabis company on Vancouver Island that has a partnership with Uber, and we offer our full menu for delivery from our website. We can deliver to almost anywhere throughout Greater Victoria and the West Shore as well as in Duncan.”
There have been three pillars to Original Farm’s success: Service, education and selection.
“We want to be that retailer that has the most education across the board. We have an unparalleled variety of products, and we have an in-depth screen that is digitally pleasing which can be tailored to each customers’ experience,” Borland says. When you put these three things together, we’re the place to go for cannabis.”
