The old Mike’s Deli Mart at 23221 Edmonds Way is about to get a new life as the THC Supermarket, a retail recreational marijuana store selling marijuana and marijuana-infused products. The future of the property had been in question ever since the building was heavily damaged by fire last year.

“We’re really excited to be coming to this location,” said THC Supermarket owner Kyle McClanahan. “We’re just wrapping up construction now, and we hope to be open for business in six to eight weeks.”

This will be the second THC Supermarket for McClanahan. The first, located in Granite Falls, has been in operation for several months. The new location is in Esperance, in unincorporated Snohomish County, and is not within City of Edmonds jurisdictional boundaries.

Previous applications for marijuana-related businesses within Edmonds have all run afoul of the buffer zone requirements established by the state in the wake of Initiative 502, which legalized recreational marijuana use in Washington state. These buffers surround schools, day cares, arcades and similar facilities; marijuana-related businesses are prohibited from operating within a buffer zone. According to City of Edmonds planning manager Rob Chave, the relative density of these types of facilities in Edmonds means that there are “very, very few potential locations that remain” where it would be even possible to locate a marijuana-related business. (See more information about this issue and a map of buffer zones in Edmonds in our April 2014 story here.)

According to materials filed with the Washington State Liquor Control Board, the THC Supermarket meets all the requirements of state law, including proximity to schools and other sensitive locations.

— Story and photos by Larry Vogel