AYR Cannabis Opens First Connecticut Location — In Manchester

MANCHESTER, CT — AYR Wellness has entered the Connecticut cannabis market with an opening in Manchester.

AYR Manchester opened Friday at a former Starbucks at 185 Spencer St. and a grand opening is slated for Friday from noon to 5 p.m.

The location features in-store and an "innovative drive-through service" that allows customers to "explore and purchase premium cannabis products from the comfort of their cars."

The grand opening will feature Faddy's Donuts and a 20 percent discount on products over the entire store, officials said.

AYR Cannabis Manchester has entered the Connecticut market as a franchise and via Connecticut Cultivation Solutions, an entity co-owned by Tiana Hercules, a Hartford-based lawyer and former City Council member.

The entity was awarded a Disproportionately Impacted Area license in Connecticut and "combines Ms. Hercules' local knowledge, expertise, and community ties, with AYR's deep experience in operating dispensaries across its footprint of eight states, to serve Manchester and its surrounding communities, particularly those negatively impacted by cannabis prohibition," AYR officials said.

AYR Cannabis Manchester is designed to not only serve Manchester residents, but "nearby towns devoid of licensed retail locations, including Bolton, Coventry, and Glastonbury," officials said.

The location measures 1,600 square feet.

"It is an honor to be opening a dispensary so close to my hometown, and I am thrilled by the opportunity our dispensary will afford me to give back to the community," Hercules said. "Legal cannabis is a very good thing for Connecticut with the potential to drive social good in a variety of ways. I look forward to taking part in that with the opening of AYR Cannabis Manchester."

Added Kyle Ronellenfitch, the market general Manager for AYR, "It is with great pleasure and excitement that we open our first location in Connecticut, alongside an outstanding partner in Tiana Hercules. Our primary goal has been and will always be to improve through the power of cannabis, via cannabis products themselves and by leveraging our dispensary footprint for positive community impact. We’re excited to introduce AYR to our neighbors in Manchester and look forward to establishing AYR as a force for good within the community."

AYR and Hercules have collaborated on social good activities throughout the state, including local expungement clinics throughout the state, as well as support for the Bridge to Morehouse Program, which creates a pathway for CT State Capital Community College students to transfer into Morehouse College.