Marijuana businesses are open - some with lower prices - during the coronavirus outbreak

It is a common scene now.

A vehicle arrives outside a business and an employee, sometimes wearing a mask or gloves, delivers food or other goods curbside.

At Lansing's Homegrown Cannabis Co. or Pure Options, those items are marijuana products.

Under Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's stay-at-home executive order, marijuana businesses, including growers and retailers, are allowed to operate as "essential businesses."

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However the outbreak has changed how they operate, from prices to practices.

"We feel extremely fortunate to be up and running and to be able to help all the patients that need their medicines," said Sam Usman Jr., an owner of PG Manufacturing, which operates the Pure Options storefront.

"I'm just thankful that my doors are open and I'm able to keep my workers employed, sell medication and also maybe alleviate some stress with the adult-use marijuana," said Tom James, owner of Homegrown.

Usman and James, unlike many other business owners in Lansing and across the country, said they had not implemented layoffs as of Monday.

"We have had some people take leave of absences. But we're steady. We haven't seen a spike or a drop (in sales)," said Usman.

"We've afforded leave to our employees, but we haven't had any employees record symptoms of COVID-19," he said.

"We have had staff that didn't feel comfortable working," James said. "We said, 'No problem.'"

"They are getting paid and they will be able to come back. We gave them that option," he said.

Dimondale-based Green Peak, which operates Skymint stores, also has avoided staff reductions so far.

"We have not reduced our workforce," said Jeff Radway, Green Peak CEO and co-founder. "We have offered employees on retail, security and cultivation teams 20% gratitude pay during this time."

Fluctuating sales 

Radway said it was too soon to tell if the outbreak has affected sales.

"At this point, we have not lived through this situation long enough to share any major trends overall," he said. "Every day has been so different."

James reported that sales for his store had decreased, however.

"We're down," he said. "We see a lot of people day-to-day that work in service industries like bartending and hairstyling. These people aren't working right now."

"I think money's a little bit tighter and we've tried to do our part, along with some of the other dispensaries in Lansing, and we've lowered our prices... We're giving the product away almost at cost," he said.

In addition to adjustments in sales strategies, retailers like Homegrown, Pure Options, and Green Peak Innovations, have implemented additional health-and-safety measures.

All three businesses have closed their showrooms to customers, moving sales to phone and online orders.

Customers then pick up their orders curbside.

"We're taking this extremely seriously," Usman said. "Everybody's wearing rubber gloves. Masks have been really tough to get, so when we have them we're using them. They're on backorder."

"We ordered the contact-free infrared thermometers for screening employees for symptoms," he said.

Green Peak has increased the frequency of cleaning, implemented social-distancing protocols and has encouraged staff members to work from home when possible, Radway said.

"We're looking to make the exchange as safe as possible for everybody," James said.

He noted that his employees are also wearing masks and gloves.

"No one's getting out of their cars," he said.

Contact business reporter Christian Martinez atcmartinez@lsj.com or (517) 599-5504. Follow him on Twitter at @ChristianM_CA.

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