Calif. cannabis 'disruptor' new to Maine plans further expansion
Courtesy / Rose Mary Jane
Erik Murray, founder of Rose Mary Jane, said the Oakland-based company chose to open its first East Coast dispensary in Maine to make a bigger impact in a smaller market.
Rose Mary Jane, an Oakland, Calif.-based startup that aims to "normalize cannabis as a force for good," is a newcomer to Maine with plans to stay and expand.
The company, founded by Erik Murray two years ago, recently opened its first dispensary in Portland, in a former Dunkin' at 327 St. John St. The leased location, secured through Malone Commercial Brokers, is next to a newer Dunkin' and close to Maine Medical Center and Hadlock Field, home of the Portland Sea Dogs baseball team.
While Rose Mary Jane had also looked at New York and Massachusetts for its East Coast launch, Maine won out in part because of the opportunity to make a bigger impact in a smaller market, Murray told Mainebiz in a phone interview.
"Whether San Francisco is the Portland of the West, or Portland is the San Francisco of the East, there are a lot of synergies and similarities in terms of being towns on the waterfront with historic architecture," Murray said.
"Maine is also very liberal and progressive, and we certainly appreciate the amount of love Portlanders have for all aspects of human, social and civil rights," Murray added. "We also saw a lot of competitors racing for New York of Massachusetts, and we really felt like Maine was a place where we could make a different in a smaller market that appreciates the quality of cannabis products."
Though it's tough to find cannabis-compliant real estate, Murray said that's not been a hurdle in Maine, where Rose Mary Jane is gearing up for further expansion.
Toward that end, the company is under contract to buy a building for a cultivation site in northern Maine with plans to start production next spring or summer and employ 30 to 40 people, according to Murray, a long-time commercial real estate investor. The company is also in talks with several communities around Portland for additional retail stores, he said.
In Portland, Rose Mary Jane opened its store on St. John Street nearly a year after the retail sale of recreational marijuana became legal in the state on Oct. 9, 2020.
In September 2021, sales of adult-use recreational marijuana amounted to $9.7 million, bringing the total for calendar year to date $54.2 million, according to preliminary data from the state's Office of Marijuana Policy released last week.
September sales were down slightly from August, with useable marijuana still eclipsing concentrates and infused products as the largest product category.
Social mission
Seeking to set itself apart in a fast-evolving sector, Rose Mary Jane launched two years ago with a goal of removing the stigma around cannabis.
That mission started with the brand, whose name is a nod to women's empowerment through the use of three first female names and also plays off "Mary Jane," a slang term for marijuana dating back to the 1920s.
"The term 'Mary Jane' always evoked a visceral, stigmatized reaction," Murray said. "Rose Mary Jane aims to soften that perception," and the team aims to create a "beautiful, shopping experience that doesn't feel like some dark alley."
He also notes that the addition of Rose to the moniker (to form the name of an herb, rosemary) is a nod to marijuana's health and wellness properties.
"We have an intentional effort to change the stigma and make people feel included and welcome," he said.
Rose Mary Jane, which employs eight people in Portland, is also a social enterprise that seeks to draw attention to individuals incarcerated for nonviolent cannabis offenses by calling for their criminal records to be expunged.
Murray said the business gives back a significant portion of its revenues to prison reform efforts in partnership with organizations including the New York-based Women's Prison Association. In Maine, Rose Mary Jane plans to support and partner with Maine Inside Out, a Portland-based nonprofit that runs facilitated theater programs for incarcerated youth.
Asked whether he sees Rose Mary Jane as a disruptor in the fast-evolving marijuana space, Murray's answer is a resounding yes.
"We especially feel that others in our industry should be talking more about many of the important social justice issues that Rose Mary Jane has been discussing not only in Portland, Maine, but all across the country as well," he said.
As the company proceeds with plans for further expansion in Maine, it is also gearing up to open retail stores closer to home, with branches in Oakland and San Francisco due to open in 2021 and 2022.
Murray said that other East Coast locations are also planned, with Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey all possibilities.
But he said that Maine will remain the regional hub, adding, "We appreciate Mainers really being there to support us."
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