Andrew Glashow
Shannon Dorn
Warren Bobrow=WB: Please tell me how you discovered the plant? Who introduced you? How old were you? Now?
Andrew Glashow=AG: I live and grew up in Rhode Island and when I was 17 years old, just like many young people, I was introduced by my best friend who had a small home grow. It was widely accepted by his parents and they did not consume alcohol.
WB: Please tell me about what you do at CLS?
AG: I oversee all finance and operations of the business.
WB: What obstacles do you face?
AG: The biggest obstacles are the lack of banking institutions located in our jurisdiction. Covid19 has been trying as well. The business has made three pivots in the last 90 days. Fortunately, we were able to come through stronger due to having the most trusted and dedicated team in the world. At CLS we have great passionate young people with an outstanding work ethic and knowledge.
WB: Stigmas?
AG: It’s still cannabis and people are uncomfortable “is it legal”. I also think many still feel it is just a bunch of stoners. At Oasis Dispensary Las Vegas we see more than 900 people a day and they range in age from 18-88+. People truly use cannabis as medicine even if they aren’t a medical patient. Even on the recreational side we see our customers using our effect based products at City Trees with a specific purpose in mind.
CityTrees Production Facility – Credit_ City Trees
DopeFoto.com
WB: Please tell me about your company?
AG: We are a public company that trades in Canada and the USA. CLS stands for ”Cannabis Life Sciences” in recognition of the Company’s patented proprietary method of extracting various cannabinoids from the cannabis plant and converting them into products with a higher level of quality and consistency. We currently operate a state of the art conversion and extraction facility in Las Vegas. This operation supports our in-house brand City Trees that is available in 75% of the Nevada market.
City Trees is the commercial cannabis innovation, production, and distribution company offering a wide variety of products. We also operate a dispensary off the Las Vegas strip where we serve a loyal local customer base and provide outstanding medicine and incredible service every day.
Oasis Cannabis has operated as a cannabis dispensary in the Las Vegas market since dispensaries first opened in Nevada in 2015 and has been recognized as one of the top cannabis retailers in the state. We’re focused on local clientele and participate actively in Las Vegas Community causes while collaborating with local charities.
Oasis Dispensary 3
Oasis Cannabis Dispensary
WB: What is your six and twelve-month goal? What markets do you want to enter? Why?
AG: City Trees’ 6-month goals include the launch of a rebranding campaign. The brand will unveil updated packaging and a new look and feel across our product portfolio, and a brand new website with the goal of boosting our customer base. In conjunction with the rebrand, we are introducing a limited edition product line as well as additional skus including; concentrates, infused pre rolls and various live resin products. In terms of business growth, we aim to achieve a 50% market penetration within 6 months.
The brand’s 12-month goals plan to create a licensing agreement with Celebrity brand, to do all manufacturing, sales, and distribution on the brands’ behalf. Further, we aim to reach the 70% market penetration and become one of the top 3 selling brands in Nevada. Our goal is to maintain an operating budget resulting in an 18%-20% EBITDA margin within 1 year. All of that said, our biggest goal is to be as sustainable as possible and further our efforts to make real change. While we have created our own recycling initiative for disposable vapes and batteries across the state, we are upping the ante and committing to planting 1 tree for every product we sell.
City Trees 1-1-1 new tincture
City Trees
The focus this year is to maximize our new state of the art conversion and extraction facility and continue developing high-quality innovative products such as our recent groundbreaking launch, the 1:1:1 Hemp Seed Oil Tincture, that presents equal parts of THC, CBD, and CBG. CBG promises to be a game-changer in the cannabis world. This non-psychoactive progenitor cannabinoid is responsible for the base structure in which all other cannabinoids are derived and recent research purports intrinsic therapeutic value for multiple conditions like sleep problems, pain, stress and anxiety, really promising.
At Oasis Cannabis we aim to improve the local community quality of life, spreading knowledge, and helping every individual customer in the Las Vegas area. Our goal is to continue supporting local charities such as Delivering with Dignity where we are contributing to the organization which brings meals to families in need. We just announced another partnership, “The Summer Of Giving” and we’ll be donating a percentage of our sales to a local organization that focuses on cannabis equality and inclusion for minorities.
City Trees New Packaging
Photo: City Trees
Our business goals include maintaining an operating budget resulting in a 17.5% EBITDA margin in the next 6 months and reduce overhead by introducing efficiencies such as a new third-party delivery partner and our new POS system. Additionally, we’ll be introducing a 1% sales commission to boost sales and give back to our employees. In the end we want to make sure they are incentivized and rewarded as they are truly the backbone of our organization. We are also extremely passionate about safety, which is our number one priority. Lastly over the next 12 months, we plan to hire additional resources with a focus on concierge style of customer care and interaction to elevate the entire customer experience behind cannabis.
WB: Do you cook? Who taught you? Food memory?
AG: I used to cook a bunch. However, 25 years ago I was replaced and not allowed to return to the kitchen. My wife is a great chef and she manages the kitchen! When I did cook I was taught by some really creative people as I was fortunate to work in a few very high-end places all through college. Love the restaurant business and the creative energy chefs bring every-night.
My favorite cooking memory is from my dad who took Chinese cooking classes 50+ years ago and actually wrote a cookbook. My favorite was Pekin duck! It was an all-day event and the prep was fun to watch… and better to eat.
WB: What is your passion?
AG: My first passion are my kids. I have two awesome ones who are 18 and 21. This pandemic has us all living together and it will most likely be the last time we get to spend time like this. I am really thankful and appreciative that we have had the time and it’s actually been really fun. My second passion is my 50 years of being a New England Patriot season ticket holder. What a ride! I have seen the best and worst of times and attended six super bowls. Being able to go to the games with my son is awesome! As a company, we are truly wrapping our arms around sustainability which is a passion we all share. We are hopeful in our own small way about encouraging others to push our regulators to reduce the copious amount of non-recyclable/environmentally unfriendly items we use in packaging. This message is also reinforced with our commitment to the Arbor Day Foundation. We have donated to this cause and have planted thousands of trees.