News Photo by Steve Schulwitz PARC Cannabis store manager Mallory Miska, left, drops a marijuana bud into a bowl on a scale while budtenders Myranda Paad, center, and Elyssa Goldin look on. The new dispensary opened in Alpena on Wednesday.

ALPENA — PARC Cannabis is the newest marijuana shop in Alpena and the staff there completed work to its building, trained budtenders, and stocked shelves to open in time to celebrate 4/20.

April 20 is considered an occasion for smoking or celebrating the smoking of marijuana and the new store offered many options for people who wanted to participate.

PARC is located on Chisholm Street, next to McDonald’s. The dispensary is the third to open in Alpena and store manager Mallory Miska said the shop opened on Wednesday in anticipation of 4/20. She said the store offers many items for people who want to use the drug recreationally or those who want to utilize it to help them sleep or relieve pain.

Miska said everyone is excited to finally welcome customers into the new business, which has marijuana flowers, edibles, vapes, and many other marijuana products and accessories. She said PARC will have products and brand names other marijuana shops in the area don’t currently sell.

“We have had our staff in here training for the last week and helping to put away all of the shipments,” she said. “We have been getting inventory almost every day leading up to 4/20 and getting ready for it. Everyone’s been working very hard, and we’re all excited to finally be open.”

Because of the wide variety of products, it could be overwhelming for someone who knows little about marijuana to know what the best item for them is, Miska said.

She said the knowledgeable budtenders will assist people find the best product to fit their needs, so the customer will feel comfortable in the store and with the product after they leave.

“We try to ask questions to find out what form of consumption they are looking for and what they want to use it for,” Miska said. “Then we will work with people to help find what they need.”

Although the shop is new to the area, Miska said the managers and employees intend to be involved in the community.

“We want to be a part of the community and to be active in it,” she said.

The store might have been open only a couple days, but people came in and out at a steady rate on Thursday. Miska said a larger celebration of the opening of the store will happen when warmer weather arrives.

“We wanted to open now for 4/20 and to begin to let people know we are here,” she said. “We’ll do a big grand opening in the summer and have food trucks, music, and other fun stuff.”

As the marijuana market in Alpena grows, Miska said there is very little competition between the shops. She said the other store owners and managers communicate often and have the same goals.

“We all kind of work together,” Miska said. “Our goal is the same as all of the dispensaries in the community, is to find different forms of medicating for the community. We all work together as a team and not try to compete with one another.”

The opening of the new dispensary will also add a boost to the city coffers, as well as provide needed revenue for Alpena County as local governments share in cannabis tax revenue.

This year, municipalities received $51,841 for each licensed marijuana retail store or microbusiness operating within their boundaries.

Alpena received $103,682 for the two shops open last year and Alpena County got $155,523 for the three marijuana shops countywide.

The allocation to the municipalities comes from the state’s pot of money made up of the 10% excise tax on the sale of the drug.