Uptown Cannabis NB store targets mid-April opening

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Cannabis NB is getting ready to add its sign to those hanging in front of Germain Street storefronts.

The provincially owned cannabis retailer is opening a location at 76 Germain Street as one of three “smaller format” stores announced in March. The retailer went before Saint John’s heritage development board Wednesday to ask for a heritage permit to install a hanging double-sided wooden sign, manufactured by Design Arts signs to its storefront.

The building is an Italianate-style building built after the great fire of 1877 and was occupied by merchant tailor LeBaron Wilson from the 1890s until the 1920s, and was also once the home of the Saint John Academy of Arts, city architect Rodrigo Mendes Campos told the board.

Campos said the hanging projection signs weren’t always common in the Victorian Trinity Royal heritage area, but are acceptable because they are less obtrusive to a building’s facade and easy to ready at pedestrian scale, Campos said.

The black-and-white design was a “strong and simple composition in keeping with the historical style of the Victorian signage” in Campos’ staff report. Staff recommended the sign be attached to the existing fascia board to avoid damaging the brick or cornice.

The vote to grant the heritage permit passed, with board member Greg Fekner abstaining.

Cannabis NB spokesperson Emilie Dow said that setup at the store is underway, and they “anticipate” opening in mid-April.

“Adding this new location in an underserviced part of the city will support CNB’s core retail model of reducing the illicit market, and prioritizing education and safety,” Dow said in an e-mail.

The location is in the same spot as a former cannabis dispensary, King Canna Medicinals, which stopped selling cannabis products in 2019 after warnings from police, Brunswick News reported at the time.