News Photo by Ellie Mills Blooming Buds General Manager/Owner Nathan Keith is pictured inside the Harrisville store on Friday. The store celebrated its grand opening on Friday and is located in the former Secretary of State building in downtown Harrisville. Blooming Buds is the second marijuana shop to open in Harrisville.

ALPENA — The owners and staff of a new marijuana shop that recently opened in Harrisville are excited to become entrenched in the community to help it prosper, as well as to provide top-notch service to its customers.

Blooming Buds on Friday celebrated its grand opening. The family that owns and runs the dispensary searched far and wide to find a place in Michigan to open a marijuana business. When the family came across the small town of Harrisville, they instantly knew that was where they wanted to be.

Karen Lopez, who handles marketing and operations for the store, said the family lived in Indiana and opening a dispensary was not in the cards there because marijuana has yet to be legalized there. So they decided to pursue their dream of owning a business in neighboring Michigan and the intense search for the perfect location led them to Northeast Michigan.

“I always like to say that Harrisville picked us, because, when we first started looking into the cannabis industry, finding a location was one of our toughest battles,” Lopez said. “So landing here has just felt right from day one.”

The store, which will also sell marijuana and cannabidiol (CBD) products, is located in the former Secretary of State building in downtown Harrisville. Lopez said the building needed some tender loving care before the store could open, but, now that the doors are open, customers are pleased with how the old building has been updated.

Blooming Buds joins a growing list of marijuana shops in the area. It is the second to open in Harrisville. Two are currently open in Alpena, with a third slated to open soon, one is open Rogers Township near Rogers City, and another is open in Ossineke.

Harrisville Mayor Jeff Gehring said there are a lot of exciting things happening in Harrisville and he is pleased the new owners chose it to invest there.

“The city is excited to have them here and we are always excited when a business chooses to open here,” he said. “It shows everyone that Harrisville is open for business and we are just excited they chose to be a part of our community.”

Lopez said Blooming Buds intends to invest in the community and work with other businesses to help Harrisville grow. She said that, currently, the store is selling St. Patrick Day-style hats, with proceeds from them going toward the town’s annual fireworks show.

“We plan to be very active in the community and to have a positive impact on it,” she said. “Community engagement is very important to us, and we intend to build strong relationships with our customers and the community as a whole.”

Blooming Buds is located on First Street in Harrisville and is open from Mondays through Saturdays 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.