By Sam Ferland
For the Valley Advocate
The Oz (pronounced ounce) Club is the newest cannabis dispensary in Easthampton, a new branch from two owners who are already familiar with the cannabis industry.
Volkan Polatol and Kevin Perrier, co-owners of the new Cannabis dispensary called OZ Club, Cannabis outlet, in Easthampton stand with some of their staff. Staff Photo/Carol Lollis
The dispensary located at 17 East St. not far from Route 5 has officially opened its doors as the fifth cannabis dispensary in the city. It is one of three dispensaries co-owned by Volkan Polatol and Kevin Perrier, but they say this location has a twist that sets it apart from the others — an “outlet model” that offers better prices for bigger orders.“We didn’t want to just open another dispensary right next to Dreamer and Honey and call it another dispensary,” said Polatol. “We wanted to give better access to consumers with our prices and selection so we went with the outlet model. It’s just a crazy, large inventory with the best prices that nobody can touch in this state.”
Customers who visit the store can find inventory on shelves behind the registers, which the owners believe makes it the first dispensary in the state to store products on the sales floor. That feature requires an alternative security plan from the Cannabis Control Commission (CCC). Each shelf has a shutter door that can be closed at the end of the day to follow CCC policy and properly store inventory.
The total inventory is yet to be filled, with the website currently only showing a fifth of what the full inventory will be.
“We’re going to try to make this place a hub where all the manufacturers and cultivators come showcase their product for the lowest price that we can give our customers,” said Polatol.
The location is one of the favorable components for the owners. They hope to draw customers from Holyoke, Northampton and Easthampton, while bringing in travelers passing by on Interstate 91.
“Our location is one of the key factors, I think it’s a very good located dispensary,” said Polatol. “You’re literally two minutes away from [Interstate] 91 and you’re pretty much at a major intersection.”
The location used to be home to a cannabis delivery business called Budzee, a previous business venture from the two owners. The two opened the business with partner, Erza Parzybok, in 2023 but shut down operations due to the tedious licensing process and low profitability.
Jamie Giroux, a bud tender at the Oz Club cannabis outlet in Easthampton, organizes product. / Staff Photo / Carol Lollis
“It was clear that the delivery model was just going to continue to break even at best and you also can’t really do any marketing,” said Perrier about Budzee.
In the wake of Budzee’s closing, it offered the perfect opportunity for the duo to make the most of the situation and use the location for a new dispensary.
Polatol and Perrier are no strangers to the cannabis industries. They own Easthampton-based cannabis manufacturer, Wemelco Industries, which includes Dreamer in Southampton, Honey in Northampton and now the Oz Club. Since Wemelco opened in July 2022, the company has expanded from five employees to more than 30, with products in more than 150 dispensaries across the state.
Being the owners of the other two dispensaries has helped influence Polatol and Perrier’s knowledge of the cannabis industry. The current staff at the Oz Club were previously trained at Dreamer and Honey to help prepare for the transition. The owners make it a point for each of their dispensaries to each have a distinct and different character.
“People are looking for the best product for the best price, best location, best atmosphere and service. So if you combine that all, I think that’s where you get the winners,” said Polatol. “I think out of all these dispensaries in western Mass. like Dreamer and Honey, that’s one of the reasons they still stand out and get good numbers, because each of them has its own uniqueness.”
After cannabis was legalized in Massachusetts, there was a boom in business for the industry. The owners explained that after the influx, the market became saturated with many different out-of-state players coming into the commonwealth, contributing to a sharp decrease to the cost of recreational cannabis. According to the CCC, the average price of a gram of marijuana in Massachusetts fell from $14.09 in November 2018 to $5.36 in April 2024, a 62% decrease.
The owners explained this price drop has made it difficult for marijuana plant facilities to stay in business, making dispensaries a more appealing business venture.
They noted that it’s still not easy to open a dispensary due to licensing and permitting processes, and the overall cost, but both are betting that the market will balance out and make now the right time to open a dispensary.
Wemelco manufactures several brands of cannabis products, including CQ (infused drinks), Goat (infused pre-rolled blunts), Honey (vape cartridges), and Papa’s Herb (rechargeable disposable vapes and vape cartridges). Their most expansive brand is Nectar, which includes infused mocktails, seltzers and water, disposable vapes, and tablets.
The Oz Club cannabis outlet, co-owned by Kevin Perrier and Volkan Polatol, in Easthampton. Staff Photo / Carol Lollis
The Oz Club will feature many product lines from Wemelco while bringing in products from a variety of marijuana plant companies, since Wemelco does not grow marijuana.
Both of the owners are also established businessmen themselves outside of Wemelco: Polatol currently owns Mulino’s in Northampton and owned Bishop’s Lounge for 14 years pre-pandemic, and Perrier is the owner and founder of Five Star Building Corp. in Easthampton.
“Come on in,” said Polatol to anyone interested in visiting. “I don’t think anybody’s going to walk in here, have the experience, look at the product and the prices and walk out and say, ‘that wasn’t worth it.’”
Easthampton regulations limit the number of adult-use retail special permits to six, making room available for one more dispensary in the city.
More information can be found at the The Oz Club website.
