DANVILLE — Seven Point Danville cannabis dispensary CEO Brad Zerman will take advantage of the vinyl-record upswing when he opens his business this spring.
“We’re going to have new and re-released vinyl of all genres throughout the store,” Zerman said.
The vinyl will be displayed on the walls adjacent to the cannabis displays. In keeping with the music theme, concert videos will be streamed with music playing throughout the store.
Vinyl sales have continued to climb in the last decade and a half. In 2023, American consumers bought more than 49 million vinyl albums, a 14 percent increase from the year before.
Zerman said he believes consumers want vinyl because “there’s no comparison between the whole experience.”
“There’s no art or special lyrics that bands put on the cover” of CDs and other packaging, he said.
Seven Point — named because the leaves of many varieties of cannabis have seven points — will open April 20.
“That’s the international pot holiday,” Zerman said.
The store will also feature “fun, cool music art behind the counter you can look at.”
The store will mark Record Store Day on April 22. Turntables will also be for sale.
An adjacent cafe is planned for the future and will include food from local businesses.
Located at 380 Eastgate Drive on Danville’s east side, Seven Point will be the city’s second cannabis dispensary. It will be situated not far from the first, Sunnyside, and will be just south of the Golden Nugget Danville casino.
The dispensary was awarded an Illinois license under the social-equity category with owners from state areas disproportionately affected by the war on drugs.
Fifty-one percent of the dispensary will be owned by partners who include a disabled veteran, a pharmacist, a former restaurant manager and two security service providers.
Zerman said he is frequently asked if the dispensary also will have a medical license.
“No, we’re not that,” he said. “Danville medical patients have to go to Champaign. There’s no medical dispensary in Vermilion County.”
He’d like to see that change, both from a business perspective and to aid those who have to travel to get cannabis.
The difference is sales tax. Medical-cannabis customers pay 2 percent sales tax compared with 20 percent for other cannabis dispensaries.
Zerman said his store will be state of the art.
“We’re going to have a really educational store for cannabis,” he said. “We’ll use a lot of technology that hasn’t been used before.”
Customers looking to get as much information about a cannabis product as they can will be able to place a package of each variety on a tray, and information displayed on a screen will tell where the product comes from.
“It will show pictures from the cultivators and whatever they want to share about the products,” Zerman said.
This is in an effort to help those not familiar with cannabis, “if they’re a new user or just turned 21 they can get more information from the growers if they don’t feel comfortable talking with one of the dispensary agents.”
Zerman said he has hired a general and assistant manager, and interviews of prospective employees have started. The business will have a staff of about 12.
State officials are expected to inspect the new business in early April for licensing purposes.
Seven Point also will have a drive-thru area when the state gives the go-ahead.
