Seven Point cannabis dispensary to also sell vinyl records

Jan. 20—DANVILLE — As construction continues on Seven Point Danville Cannabis Dispensary, CEO Brad Zerman says the design of the dispensary will make it a first of its kind cannabis and vinyl record shop.

"We're planning on inviting record stores to participate in like a record exchange," Zerman said. The dispensary would sell new records, but people and stores could bring in used records too, he said.

"We'll see. We have to get that together," Zerman said.

Zerman says he'll be bringing in some of his own music, rock-n-roll memorabilia too, to have on display in an area in the dispensary, kind of like a Hard Rock Cafe. He said he will be bringing in items such as signed guitars from Pearl Jam, a U2 signed leather jacket and Rage Against the Machine signed cymbal.

"We're working on some things to bring other music companies into the fray, however they participate, whether it's a venue or merch from a venue or merch from something in Chicago or Indy. We're working on stuff, but we need to get open and show how cool the whole vibe's going to be in here," Zerman said.

Zerman hopes to open the dispensary by April 20. Glass doors inside the dispensary separate an adjacent cafe, also planned for the future. Food would be for sale from local businesses.

"We're not touching this space right now. We're focused on the dispensary. It's just going to be like a white box," he said of the cafe space.

Zerman said he still wants to have a consumption lounge.

The dispenary is located at 380 Eastgate Drive, on the city's east side near the Golden Nugget Danville Casino.

Zerman said he's been talking to casino marketing staff about working together on promotions.

Groundbreaking occurred in July 2023 on the dispensary, located in front of the Econo Lodge off Lynch Road in Danville.

A general manager, Jesse Hicks, has been hired for the dispensary.

Zerman said with Hicks in place, other hirings will start of approximately 12 other employees.

The dispensary will have the check-in area, display floor with cases, counter area, fulfillment and also storage areas. There will be computer tablets to learn about the products.

There also will be vinyl records in about every genre on the bottom rungs of the cases.

"We have a drive-through window ready to go when the state allows it," Zerman said. "We think that's going to happen in the next few months. It should have happened last year. So, we're ready to go. It's got all the zoning for drive-through from the city. It's all been properly planned since before the plans were made."

Hicks, who lives in Champaign and had been assistant manager at the nearby Sunnyside cannabis dispensary, said, "it's pretty exciting to have actually a little bit of competition between the two."

Seven Point's construction is on schedule overall.

Zerman said when they make some changes along the way, it can cause little delays. Millwork is coming in mid-March, and hopefully everything will be done at that point, he said. Then they will be setting up accessories on the displays and getting the point of sale and other systems fully in place. They also will have the state inspection.