Illinois legalized cannabis sales saw large numbers yesterday. Pam Althoff, Executive Director of the Cannabis Business Association of Illinois says that the soft opening saw only a few minor problems and that the dispensaries weren’t running at full power yesterday because some dispensaries had not been fully inspected by the State of Illinois or some municipalities had opted out of adult use cannabis sales.
Althoff says the challenges will be rapidly addressed to meet the demands of the market. Althoff provides some preliminary sales numbers from yesterday: “Numbers we have obtained from 18 dispensaries throughout the State of Illinois including Rockford, the City of Chicago, and Springfield – we had 8,870 plus customers and a total aggregate [revenue] of sales is in access of $1 million but probably closer to $1.2 million. That’s only with the 18 dispensaries in operation reporting.”
Governor’s Senior Advisor on Cannabis Control Toi Hutchinson said in a press conference that the total sales number for the 77,000 transactions across the state totaled $3.1 million on the first day.
Althoff says those numbers are likely to go up as they get more definitive information gathered through this evening. Althoff says customers have been extremely patient waiting in line as well as dealing with the flower shortage in the state. She says people have been agreeable in trying new products so that everyone gets a chance to purchase. Althoff said the dispensaries themselves only had a few issues – one being a computer glitch at the point of sale and another being state-issued badges for new employees hired to deal with the long lines. “Our software provider was on call throughout the day yesterday and worked to resolve the issues promptly. The issues were to be expected with this soft opening for sales,” Althoff said.
Althoff expects more of the same volume of customers and revenue throughout the week. She says the dispensaries will continue to work through any further issues as they are presented, but has overall been pleased with the response of both customers and businesses.