Willie Nelson is finally getting into the legal marijuana game with his new brand of weed, “Willie’s Reserve.” Not only will he have his own strains of marijuana, his company is hoping to open retail stores in the states where weed is legal. Think “Whole Foods,” but with dope.
The news comes from The Daily Beast who sat down with Willie’s Reserve spokesman, Michael Bowman. Here’s a snippet from that interview:
So what exactly is Willie’s Reserve?
Well, you know, Willie has spent a lifetime in support of cannabis, both the industrial hemp side and the marijuana side. He wants it to be something that’s reflective of his passion. Ultimately, it’s his. But it was developed by his family, and their focus on environmental and social issues, and in particular this crazy war on drugs, and trying to be a bright light amongst this trail as we’re trying to extract ourselves from the goo of prohibition.
Really he wants it, at the end of the day, to envelop what his personal morals and convictions are. So from the store itself to how they’ll work with suppliers and how things are operated, it’s going to be very reflective of Willie’s life.
Wait, so there’s going to be stores?
Well, yeah, they’re in the making. I think it’s safe to say that there will be stores that roll out in the states where marijuana has become legal.
So will there be signature strains that you grow under Willie’s oversight? Or will you sell other people’s strains?
It’ll be both. There will be our own, and then there will be opportunities for other growers, who meet quality standards. Let’s just call it the anti-Walmart model. Personally, internally, that’s what we call it. A certain standard by which growers have to account for carbon and such, in a way that empowers small growers who are doing the right thing.
So you’ll also be a distributor of sorts.
It will be like when you walk into a Whole Foods store. Whole Foods has their 365 brand, or you can buy Stony Brook, or you can buy Horizon… It’ll all fall under that umbrella of “here’s our core beliefs, and here’s our mission statement,” and they will be a part of that, to be a part of us.
How many stores are you looking at opening?
That’s gonna depend… Right now, we’ll focus on the states where legalization has occurred, and as new states open up, those opportunities will present themselves on a state-by-state basis. Or until the feds do something!
In addition to marijuana and retail stores, Willie’s Reserve is hoping to capitalize on products such as bongs, bowls, and vaporizers. It doesn’t take much to realize that this is going to turn into a cash cow, but the good news is that more than likely Willie’s Reserve is going to put a good deal of that money back into the movement.
Here’s a photo of some of their product: