In our very first Dispensary Spotlight, we asked owner Jerrie Paine about Old Toby and its mission as a service-centered cannabis retailer. Read on for how their deep respect for the plant carries through to everything they do.
Spotlight On Old Toby Dispensary
Old Toby is a curated, customer service-centered Dispensary located in Chehalis, Washington.
This unique retail shop offers cannabis shoppers a one-of-a-kind, high-quality shopping experience.
To learn more about this unique retailer, we asked a few questions of Old Toby’s owner, operator, buyer, and “cannabist,” Jerrie Paine.
A Focus On Customer Service & Care
At Old Toby, the team takes their role as “consummate stewards of the plant” very seriously. The Old Toby mission is to share their deep love and respect for cannabis with each and every customer.
"Here, you will find quality cannabis with quality service AND quality customers...that is what makes the Old Toby experience so unique and special."
Rather than focusing on churning out large quantities of products, Old Toby utilizes a customer-centric approach. Their team’s priority is building quality connections with both vendors and customers.
"Our customers know we genuinely care about them and because of that, they trust us with fulfilling their cannabis needs."
Overcoming Barriers With In-Person Relationships
In an industry that feels stacked against them, the trailblazers at Old Toby have faced ongoing challenges. Early on, they had to fight to open their store, then fight to survive in the industry, and stay open at all.
Although, of the many barriers they’ve faced, the lack of Federal legalization continues to be one of the biggest challenges.
Because of the censorship caused by strict legislation, the team feels limited across departments. This includes a variety of limitations to marketing and outreach, and as a result Old Toby operates with minimal advertising and digital presence.
While dealing with so much resistance, additional challenges often have to do with human resources. Like many retail spaces, Dispensaries sometimes deal with high staff turn-over rates.
Jerrie’s concern has been that these kinds of frequent staff changes make it “difficult to maintain trust with customers.”
This can be especially frustrating for the team at Old Toby, where customer service and relationships are integral parts of the brand identity.
With all of this in mind, Jerrie attributes Old Toby’s continued growth to the experience they offer, and those critical relationships they’ve worked so hard to prioritize.
"The growth of our business has depended on in-person relationships built with loyal customers and quality vendor partners."
Simplified B2B Shopping With Cultivera Market
Old Toby came on board with Cultivera POS in the end of 2023, but their history with Cultivera first began back in 2021.
Back then, Old Toby started using Cultivera Market when they found that many of their existing vendor partners had launched online menus on the platform.
In the years since, the Old Toby team have continued to shop the many B2B brands available in Washington’s Cultivera Marketplace.
Cultivera Market is an online B2B menu and order portal built to connect licensed cannabis retailers with vendors in their area. In the Cultivera Marketplace, qualifying purchasers can browse B2B menus from available sellers with just a few clicks.
While there are many benefits to shopping Cultivera Market, Jerrie specifically points to the availability of product COAs and test results as one of the features that she has gotten a lot of use out of.
"I most appreciated the ability to read test results for products I considered ordering."
Plus, since Cultivera Market is always open, purchasers can shop on their own time, from anywhere, day or night, 24/7, with or without a sales representative.
With that in mind, it’s no wonder that 95% of the state’s dispensaries are already shopping, easily making Cultivera Market Washington’s favorite i502 ecommerce platform.
Successful CCRS Compliance With Cultivera POS
Years later, after Washington’s transition to CCRS for traceability compliance, Old Toby discovered that the point-of-sale software they’d been using was not reporting their data! This lack of services put their business at risk, since CCRS reporting is a requirement to stay legally compliant.
This challenge brought them to the streamlined seed-to-sale workflows and automations offered by Cultivera POS.
Having been through many regulatory transitions in states like Washington, Oklahoma, and now Illinois, Cultivera offers reliable, expert regulatory compliance features and workflows.
This includes automated regulatory reporting to state traceability systems, so business operators can rest easy.
On the other hand, regulatory compliance is just the beginning of what retailers need.
So Cultivera POS helps provide peace of mind with complete dispensary operations beyond CCRS reporting.
Features of Cultivera POS include staff management, simplified patient check-ins, online menu integrations, lightning-fast intake and returns, “Offline Mode,” and more.
Although the challenges presented by their previous software created a few hurdles during onboarding, Jerrie confirms that the Cultivera POS Support team was on top of it.
"...the crew at Cultivera was extremely attentive and effective at remedying the issues that presented."
As a result, the team at Old Toby benefits from knowing they are compliant with Washington state requirements, and saving more time on top of that, thanks to Cultivera POS.
"We are now fully compliant with the reporting requirements of WA state and happily entering orders, spending a fraction of the time required by the prior POS program."
Looking Forward In The Industry
Despite its challenges, this unique industry has so much to love.
At Old Toby, Jerrie particularly appreciates the way working in the cannabis space allows a continued sense of security and support without compromising.
"To thine own self be true....working with cannabis provides financial support for my family in a way that does not require compromising my morals and values."
Without legalization, however, the industry is still full of hurdles, and continues to present challenges for business operators like Jerrie across the supply chain.
So, like many in the industry, what Jerrie and the Old Toby team look forward to most is federal legalization, and a future where the cannabis plant is truly respected, not exploited.
"I look forward to the day when the cannabis plant is respected for its plethora of medical applications and no longer used as a means of discrimination and incrimination."
You can follow Old Toby online, and shop their retail location in Chehalis, Washington.
Vendors interested in Old Toby stocking their products can reach out any time.
