24 JANUARY 11-17, 2024 westword.com WESTWORD | REAL ESTATE | RENTALS | HEALTH WELLNESS | SERVICES | EMPLOYMENT | ADULT | MUSIC | CLASSIFIED | FIND MORE MARIJUANA COVERAGE AT WESTWORD.COM/MARIJUANA Friends and Family BY THOMAS MITC HELL When Laura Ohman and Matthew Lotz met at a karaoke bar over fourteen years ago, Lotz’s rendition of Garth Brooks’s “Friends in Low Places” helped him land a date. Now the couple is going all in on the concept of friends, pals and buds. “Nobody smokes a bowl and gets into a fi ght. For us, cannabis just brings up so many good memories of friendship and being buds,” Lotz explains. The two owners of Best Buds dispensary at 4012 West 38th Avenue and another soon- to-be Best Buds at 3814 Walnut Street aren’t new to the cannabis game — they’re investors in a wholesale cultivation in Parachute — but the west Denver store, open since late December, is their fi rst dispensary. Ohman and Lotz currently split their time between Las Vegas and Denver, and were looking for hands-on business oppor- tunities in Colorado, where Lotz is from, so they could spend more time with his family as they dove into cannabis. Late last year they settled on two old dispensary lo- cations previously owned by Buddy Boy, a retail pot chain with seven stores in Denver that abruptly shut down in 2022. They also purchased another grow in Denver, and are in the process of acquiring a 40,000-square- foot growing and manufacturing facility in Aurora, as well as a dispensary in that city. According to Lotz, the Walnut Street store should be open by the end of Janu- ary. They’re waiting to complete a handful of permitting steps with city offi cials and reinstall electrical equipment; fencing, air- conditioning units, electric wiring and signs have all been stolen from the property since they bought the store, he says. Despite the rough start, however, Ohman and Lotz are excited about opening dispensaries around the Highland and RiNo neighborhoods. “We’re really happy to be here and can’t wait to expand more in the near future. We think we’ll stand out in a few different ways,” Ohman says. “Our new head grower is bringing in a lot of great genetics, and we’re really excited to have him running things.” They hired Aaron Mogerman, formerly of Klone Colorado, to lead their new grow- ing operations. They’re particularly excited about Mogerman’s cut of Dante’s Inferno, a popular resin-glazed strain that quickly be- came one of Klone’s most popular varieties. After closing the deal on their Aurora tar- gets — which they decline to name until the sale is done — they plan to have a vertically integrated cannabis business, from growing to extracting to retail sales. Buying into the cannabis trade isn’t as sexy as it used to be, especially in Colorado, where dispensary sales fell over 30 percent from 2021 to 2023 and cultivation licenses have fallen about 30 percent since the end of 2022. Lotz sees opportunity as cannabis businesses leave the state, however. “We’re hopeful that synergy between the grow, our clients and dispensaries will get us through this hard time. I think grows will still go out of business, but I think we’re pretty well managed as a business, so we will make it,” he says. “It’s a good opportunity to invest right now.” Ohman and Lotz come from the hotel and commercial real estate businesses in Nevada and Colorado’s Western Slope, but both describe themselves as longtime ap- preciators of the plant. Eager to participate in the customer-facing side of pot, they named Best Buds after a friend Lotz used to smoke cannabis with who passed away fi ve years ago. “We would just sit back, smoke and relax, laugh for hours and talk about everything in life. That’s why the name is ‘Best Buds,’ be- cause that’s what we were. For us, it’s a little more than just a business. It’s a way of honor- ing friendship and all of those great Breakfast Club moments with my best friends,” he says. “It’s fun to have a business where people come in and are happy to receive it. It feels like you’re improving that person, so it’s only natural to make friends in the process,” Ohman adds. “It sounds corny, but it’s true.” Best Buds is now open at 4012 West 38th Avenue for medical and recreational sales; the store at 3814 Walnut Street could open by the end of January. The owners plan to hold a grand-opening party at both shops soon; stay updated at bestbudsco.com. Best Buds opened its fi rst store on West 38th Avenue in December, with another in RiNo on the way. MARIJUANA T O K E O F T H E T O W N THOMAS MITCHELL THOMAS MITCHELL
