LOGAN SQUARE — The neighborhood is set to get its third dispensary early next year as construction on the location wraps up.
Ivy Hall, one of the first recreational cannabis dispensaries to receive a social equity license by the state, is opening its second Chicago store at 3115 W. Armitage Ave. in early January.
The dispensary, which received approval from the Zoning Board of Appeals last year after community input, takes over the former J&M Laundromat. The company opened its Bucktown dispensary in November 2022.
Omar Delgado, director of retail for Ivy Hall, said the Logan Square location is special to him because he grew up a few blocks east and used to come to the laundromat with his mother.
Delgado now lives in Belmont Heights but still has friends in and ties to the community, he said. Ivy Hall’s dispensary will be able to serve Logan Square and Humboldt Park, the latter of which has no dispensaries, Delgado said.
“It’s like a full circle feeling to think about how far the industry has come [and] being connected to the area,” Delgado said. “I just take a lot more pride in it, and I feel like the people that work for me, we just really need to make sure that the staff is very representative of the area.”
The store will largely look and feel like the Bucktown location, which sells a variety of smokeable flower, tinctures, topicals and other THC and CBD products. Ivy Hall dispensaries have full-service kiosks where customers can order and pick up items in store, similar to what customers would find in fast food chains, Delgado said.
People can also order products through a secure app and pick them up in the store, as more than half of the company’s revenue comes from online sales, Delgado said.
All Ivy Hall stores are recreational only, but they offer 25 percent discounts on Mondays for medical marijuana card holders.
“With the fact that there’s so many stores now, you have to find the differentiator, and for us it’s the nuance within the experience and the connection,” Delgado said. “If you want more knowledge and if you feel like you need more guidance, like we want to make sure that that’s available for you.”
The store will have 30 employees, and 15 have been hired already, Delgado said.
Ivy Hall is hosting a job fair 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Thursday at the Logan Square location in an effort to hire more people from the area, Delgado said.
“It’s really important for us to get people from the neighborhood,” Delgado said.
The Logan Square dispensary will have on-site security and 24-hour surveillance, along with other safety measures required under state law, according to the zoning application and officials.
Despite the social equity program, Illinois has struggled to diversify an overwhelmingly white industry. A recent state survey concluded the percentage of cannabis companies whose majority owners are people of color is ticking up.
The Logan Square dispensary’s license is under the World of Weed company, which was approved by the state last year and has all social equity licenses. The ownership is 51 percent Black- and veteran-owned, said Ivy Hall co-founder David Berger.
“Ivy Hall is a collective of social equity licenses that banded together to create a unique experience through a meaningful footprint, while increasing buying power with scale and sharing operational functions among the locations,” Berger said via email.
Ivy Hall’s Logan Square location will have a grand opening in early January alongside Ald. Jessie Fuentes (26th), who has already toured the location, she said.
It will be open 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 9 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 10 a.m-6 p.m. Sundays.
The spot joins Ascend’s Logan Square dispensary, formerly MOCA, 2367 N. Milwaukee Ave., and the Grasshopper Club, the city’s first Black-owned dispensary inside the old Logan Square Trust & Savings Bank building, 2551 N. Milwaukee Ave.
A fourth dispensary could come to Logan Square in the spring if it gets approved by the zoning board.
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