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Chris Gracia recently moved to Albert Lea to run Matchbox Farms Cannabis Dispensary with his son, Chris Gracia Jr. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

Matchbox Farms will soon open a store in Albert Lea selling a variety of cannabis products. Provided

Matchbox Farms Cannabis Dispensary will soon open a location in Albert Lea and will sell a variety of products including cannabis flour, concentrates and edibles. Provided

Matchbox Farms Cannabis Dispensary will soon open a location in Albert Lea and will sell a variety of products including cannabis flour, concentrates and edibles. Provided

Matchbox Farms Cannabis Dispensary in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Provided

Matchbox Farms will soon open a store in Albert Lea selling a variety of cannabis products. Provided

Chris Gracia recently moved to Albert Lea to run Matchbox Farms Cannabis Dispensary with his son, Chris Gracia Jr. Ayanna Eckblad/Albert Lea Tribune

The summer this year closed out with big news as Albert Lea City Council members voted to approve two cannabis retailers in the city. One of these approved businesses,

Matchbox Farms LLC, has been hard at work opening their new store and getting it ready for business.

“We’re a small family business that is extremely excited to be in Albert Lea and starting this new industry,” said Chris Gracia, co-owner of Matchbox Farms.

Gracia, like many cannabis sellers, is fairly new to the business. Originally from southern California, he worked for most of his adult life in building safety in Oregon.

Gracia’s son, Chris Gracia Jr., asked his father to join him in his cannabis business when it became legal in New Mexico in 2021. Gracia agreed, and the business partnership began.

The store in New Mexico is vertically integrated, Gracia said, and handles the growing, manufacturing and selling of products.

The Albert Lea business will focus on the retail side, but he said he has plans to expand to manufacturing and farming in Minnesota if opportunities line up.

“We sell all sorts of cannabis products,” Gracia said. “We sell cannabis flour, cannabis concentrates, cannabis edibles, CBD, all things cannabis is what we sell, and we plan to do the exact same thing here.”

Gracia said he decided to set up shop in Albert Lea because his wife’s family is from southeastern Minnesota and his adult daughter lives in Rochester.

“Primarily, family was the main focus for the location,” he said.

The family explored Albert Lea and agreed it was a good location to start a business, especially since it is situated on Interstates 35 and 90.

Acquiring a license to sell cannabis was an intense process with a lot of decisions that had to be made, both on Gracia’s part and on the part of the city. In the end, though, they got the necessary license and moved to Minnesota.

Gracia said he is not used to living in a small town quite yet, and he is still getting used to the vibes. However, he is excited to get started in Albert Lea and find a community here.

“There’s a lot of excitement for legal cannabis in Albert Lea,” he said. “We think it’s going to be a great future here.”

Their goal, he added, is to take what they have and make the best of it.

One looming issue, however, has been supplying products.

Because of Minnesota’s rollout of legal cannabis, Gracia said, advanced licensing was not available to growers. This has put the industry backwards, he said, as it means sellers have to get retail going before product is available.

This makes it very challenging for industry owners to get started, he explained, and many micro businesses are unable to make it to opening day of their store.

“We’ve invested a lot of money up to this point, you know. And without product to sell, we’re just continuing to spend,” he said.

Cannabis is a fun industry to be a part of, he said, but it’s also very competitive, like any other retail market.

There are a lot of misconceptions surrounding cannabis, Gracia said, and he enjoys being able to show people the product’s many uses so they have a better understanding and can be informed when deciding whether they want to use it.

There’s its recreational use, of course, he said, but it can also help with common issues like pain or anxiety relief. Many older adults buy their products for joint pain relief or as a sleep aid, he said.

Sometimes people have had bad experiences using cannabis because they bought it when it was unregulated or from the black market. Gracia said he hopes that the legal regulation of cannabis can ease some of people’s fears.

“Our focus is … providing quality regulated cannabis at a great price,” he said.

Gracia said he has gotten great feedback from people in the community. As the store undergoes renovations, people have stopped by and let them know they are excited about the business.

“We want everybody to know that we’re excited to be here,” Gracia said. “We are a father-son team. We’re a small company … We will be part of this community. We are not just here to make money and run. We’re not going anywhere.”

Matchbox Farms Cannabis Dispensary will be located at 2316 Hendrickson Rd. More information can be found at matchboxfarms.com.

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