CBD sweet tea? New NoDa dispensary also offers edibles and more, as it eyes expansion
A CBD shop in Charlotte’s NoDa neighborhood officially opens Wednesday with education in mind.
Lavendar House at 1101 E. 36th St. will be a “cannabis meets community” shop, the dispensary’s husband-and-wife owners Freddy Rosa and Lindsey Smith said.
“CBD cannabis has been given a bad name associated with marijuana even though there are no properties of THC or getting you high,” Rosa said, referring to tetrahydrocannabinol, the chemical responsible for the psychological effects of marijuana. “CBD is a wellness and health product.”
CBD stands for cannabidiol and is derived from the hemp plant, a cousin of the marijuana plant, according to Harvard Health Medical School.
Rosa, who has been in the CBD industry for 30 years, said the all-natural product is used as part of maintaining a healthy lifestyle. It can help, he said, with sleep insomnia and pain relief.
The Lavender House difference
Lavender House has its own hemp growers in the Asheville area. Rosa and Smith extract the plant’s oils to make CBD soap, lotion, bath balms, chapsticks and edibles. Rosa said they also continue to create and develop new products, which will soon include selling CBD sweet tea, grape juice and lemonade.
Customers also will find a bit of lavender oil and scent in every product, which is attributed to lavender having healing properties, Rosa said. “That’s part of the theme,” he said.
While there are several other CBD shops and stores that sell such products in Charlotte, Rosa said Lavender House is a full dispensary, selling only its brand of CBD and hemp products like clothing and hand sanitizer.
“The difference with other CBD stores is they buy from CBD companies; ours is nothing but Lavender House CBD,” Rosa said.
CBD popularity rising
CBD is legal in all 50 states in 2018, and can only have only have 0.03% THC, and no metals, pesticides and steroids. That’s why Lavender House CBD is lab-tested by a third party.
BDS Analytics and Arcview Market Research projects CBD sales in the U.S. will surpass $20 billion by 2024.
“The cannabis revolution is almost like a gold rush,” Rosa said, generating billions of dollars a year. “I feel like we’re right on the forefront of what’s going on.”
Community focused and growing
The roughly 400-square-foot shop has a back yard large enough for 200 people. The couple plan to combine Wednesday’s opening with a Cinco de Mayo celebration with food trucks and music. And, Lavender House plans to host festivals in the future.
“We’re here truly here to educate the community and bring health and wellness,” Rosa said.
And Rosa said they’re already making expansion plans, looking at Charleston, Orlando and Los Angeles, and possibly Puerto Rico, where he has family.
Rosa sees the minority-owned business — he is Latino and Smith has Black and Cherokee heritage — as a step forward.
“I think it’s amazing Charlotte has such a huge minority community,” Rosa said of opening the CBD business, “and we’re breaking barriers.”