Tracy’s fifth cannabis shop held its grand opening last week, the latest business to open a retail dispensary under a process that began 5 years ago and at one point had up to 12 dispensaries in line to open in Tracy.

Garden of Eden, 2420 Grant Line Road, quietly opened for business in December and since then has established a following, enough that when the grand opening happened on Friday a large crowd of customers gathered to take advantage of opening-day specials.

“This afternoon, there was a line, kind of a loop around the parking lot, which was really good. Right when I pulled up around noon it was a huge line down the block,” said owner Soufyan AbouAhmed, adding that customers who arrived early on Friday got free gifts and a barbecue lunch under a tent set up in front of the shop.

AbouAhmed added that a couple months of operating in Tracy informed him and his staff of the best way to operate a dispensary in town, working with the experience they’ve had with their Hayward location and learning about what will be unique about their Tracy location and customers.

“We called it a soft opening, kind of working out the kinks. We’re used to operating in in Hayward, and it’s a different market than Tracy, so we made a couple adjustments of what we thought people would like here,” AbouAhmed said.

While it’s the fifth dispensary to open in Tracy, AbouAhmed doesn’t worry about competition, adding that his company has enough experience, starting with a medical cannabis dispensary in 2003, to be a leader in the industry in any location, with a Sunol shop to open within the next few months.

“When I first opened my store in Hayward there were 12 other dispensaries within a 3-mile radius, and I’m still here. So I’m used to the competition. I welcome it,” he said, adding that his company strives to be proactive in the evolution of the cannabis business model.

“Garden of Eden has built software, kind of spawned a software company, that helps other dispensaries with their point-of-sale systems,” he said, adding, “We have the largest hemp farm in California, which is in Byron. That’s also spawned out of Garden of Eden. So we’ve have a lot of contributions to the cannabis industry as a whole over the years.”

He emphasized quality control as a top priority for a modern cannabis business.

“We have a lot of in-house brands. We have flower that I personally go and find all across the state, and I try to keep my flower fresh here,” AbouAhmed said, adding that he takes it off the shelf if he thinks it’s been there too long. “One thing I see with a lot of dispensaries is the flower, it’s a perishable item, it goes stale, and that’s one thing that is very concerning to us.”

When it was time for the ceremonial ribbon cutting he was joined by others involved in the store, including Manager Thu-Linh Delestrez, legal counsel Jas Dhillon, local partner Mike Souza and building owner Jivtesh Gill. The Tracy Chamber of Commerce was on-hand for the ceremony, as was Mayor Dan Arriola.

“It’s always so exciting when we have a new business, and particularly for our city we had a tough time trying to introduce cannabis, but I think we are stronger for it,” Arriola said. “We are recognizing the benefits of cannabis in our community, and it is so special to have it here.”

California voters legalized cannabis for adult use in 2016, and Tracy established its rules for local cannabis sales in 2019, first allowing up to up to four cannabis businesses, and then the Tracy City Council revised the rule to allow more businesses, including up to 11 retail storefronts. The city eventually processed 17 applications for cannabis business permits, including 12 dispensaries, one of them delivery-only. Several of those permits expired before the businesses could get their final approvals and were not renewed, and some applications were withdrawn.

Garden of Eden is the fifth cannabis retail shop to open under those rules. One more, Authentic Tracy LLC, DBA Stiiizy’s, still has an active state license for a dispensary at 775 W. Clover Road, formerly the home of Stars Casino, which moved to West Valley Mall in 2023.

Authentic Tracy’s conditional use permit was approved on May 24, 2023, and renewed on March 27, 2024. On May 16, 2024, architect Hide Iwagami took out a building permit to develop $170,000 worth of tenant improvements on that site. Construction is currently underway.

The Tracy City Council has since revised its rules for anyone who wants to take out a city cannabis permit. Any cannabis retailer now seeking to apply for a city permit would be subject to stricter regulations, including buffer zones that would keep dispensaries at least 600 feet away from schools, youth centers, youth-oriented businesses or other dispensaries, and at least 50 feet away from areas zoned as residential.

• Contact Bob Brownne at brownne@tracypress.com, or call (209) 830-4227.