Grand Opening Catalyzes Cannabis Industry, Community Gathering Space

For the grand opening, Catalyst Cannabis absorbed the event costs, such as insurance and security fencing. Booths were free to vendors in exchange for a wholesale discount to enable special pricing inside the store. Twenty-five booths represent the manufacturers and processors of products sold in Catalyst Cannabis shops, including Enlighten Alaska and Fairbanks-based Good AK, which have their own retail storefronts.

Amanda Anderson, a budtender at Enlighten Alaska, is pleased to see the competition doing well. “The more the merrier,” she says. “It keeps everybody’s names in each other’s shops.” At her vendor booth, she displays Enlighten Alaska’s cartridges, puff pods, and concentrates.

Anchorage has approximately one retailer for every 6,000 residents; counting only potential customers, Schneider estimates about one shop for every 2,000. “It’s a pretty saturated market, when it comes down to it,” he says. “But the way we have the ability to expand is that we have a strong brand.”

Catalyst Cannabis has earned Best of Alaska Business honors from its loyal fanbase, not just for its products and services but for its ethos, which stands for catalyzing community.

Tacos Next to Weed

Two signboards on the building’s exterior are blank, ready to be filled when tenants move in. Half of the building is designed as a food court with room for a coffee roaster, juice bar, and taco stand.

“Not only does it work great to have tacos next to weed,” says Schneider, laughing at the joke that everyone tells, “but it’s also an underserved area in the community to have nice communal spaces where people can meet and eat.”

He compares the combined space to the multitenant shopping center that Fire Island Rustic Bakeshop set up at Seventh Avenue and K Street. Schneider says, “We really like the community vibe of that, having multiple options in one location.”

The taco shop happens to come from a few blocks away from the Fire Island bakery. El Green-Go’s has built a loyal following from a food truck on L Street. When the season ends by November, the kitchen will move into its first brick-and-mortar location with a ten-year lease.

Schneider says he recruited El Green-Go’s to fill the space. “We did a lot of the construction to make sure we could land someone like El Green-Go’s,” he says. “To the chagrin of some of my investors; they weren’t too stoked about that, but as a result it made it really attractive to land El Green-Go’s.”

In the second decade of legalized marijuana in Alaska, the industry’s frontrunners are graduating to landlord status. Schneider observes, “Out of the three properties we own, this is the one that makes a decent cash flow because we will have a multitenant space.”

Prime Spot

Catalyst Cannabis has owned the property since the fall of 2021, not long after First National Bank Alaska closed the branch. The company developed its Spenard location first, so Northern Lights and Boniface had to wait.

Now that it’s open, Schneider believes the business fills a niche that had been missing. “Being a resident of this side of town, there’s really nothing—whether it be a meeting place, a place to have a cup of coffee,” he says. “There’s not many options to have a gathering spot.”

Anderson agrees. “He picked a prime spot. I feel like there’s not very many retailers in this corner of Anchorage,” she says. “Perfect spot.”

Catalyst Cannabis had to convince the Russian Jack Community Council that a pot shop would be a good neighbor. Schneider made the case that a taxpaying business is better than an empty hull. “You used to go to community council meetings, and there was quite a big uproar. There still is a little bit,” he says. “What we found out is that it makes the area much safer. There’s more lights, and we’ll have people at this facility from 7:30 in the morning until 12:30 in the morning.”

The space will become even more active when the food court tenants arrive later this year.