Ellensburg’s first recreational marijuana store, Cannabis Central, is officially open for business in a new building just yards away from their original location.

According to owner Rob Hendrix, the need for a new building presented itself within days of his old shop’s grand opening.

“We opened on August 25, 2015 and I decided that we needed to expand around September 1, 2015,” Hendrix said with a laugh. “There just wasn’t enough space.”

The space issue caused several problems.

“We had no back-stock capability so we were constantly having to be resupplied,” Hendrix said. “I was having to order relatively small orders, relatively frequently. Now we’ll be able to make major purchases and get good buys.”

According to Hendrix, the lack of space also complicated business operations with processors. With no storage, employees had to merchandise products immediately, meaning deliveries could often only be taken early in the morning.

“There were many days where we’d be getting to work at 8 a.m. to accommodate everyone’s schedules so we could accept the delivery, get it paid for, and have it up in the store by 10 a.m.,” Hendrix said. “They all worked with me though.”

The new shop is a former residency on W. University Way that was occupied as recently as last fall. At the beginning of the year, Hendrix purchased the property and started the process of converting it from a house to a retail outlet.

The store’s opening was delayed when the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Control Board required Hendrix to file the move as a “change of location” rather than a mere “change of operating plan.”

Hendrix thought the process would move quickly considering the new store is on the same parcel of land, owned by the same property owner, and even has the same basic address.

“My goal originally was to be open on March 14,” Hendrix said. “But two weeks in, we found out that they were going to insist that we do a change of location which gives us an entirely new license number and makes us go through all of the steps that you would if you were getting a brand new license.”

The impending merger of the recreational and medicinal marijuana markets also contributed to Hendrix’s urgency to upgrade space.

On July 1, medical patients will be able to buy their marijuana at recreational shops. When the state started accepting applications for medical endorsements, Hendrix said he immediately raised his hand to get on board.

“The legitimate medical patients, I love those people and I want to take care of them as best I can because they need it,” he said. “If we can help someone’s quality of life, I mean how do you put a price tag on that?”

Since the new store was formerly a house, Hendrix knew he’d be able to utilize one of the existing walls as a barrier between the recreational and medical sides of the shop.

“The building just lends itself naturally, I knew in the back of my mind that it’d be perfect,” he said. “I wanted separation for patient privacy so maybe if we’ve got a 65-year-old PTSD sufferer, we’ll be able to sit in here and talk for a little bit without being right next to the 21-year-old studs who just want to get stoned.”

After the initial opening week, Hendrix said customers seem overwhelming happy with the new location and the larger selection of products available.

Still, he says he’ll miss the charm of his first store.

“I loved that little 210-square-foot shop, he said. “Nobody generated more tax money per square foot than that place. It was terribly efficient and got us off the ground as a business. It was our little Mercury but now this is our Apollo.”