What happens when you bring together four local business owners who sell coffee, cut hair and mix cement?
You get Ocean County’s first-ever cannabis dispensary, opening Friday.
“I think it will be huge for everybody, it is going to be big,” said Thomas Marino, a local barber who joined three other nearby merchants to create The Social Leaf, which opens Friday. “People are coming up to the door everyday asking if we are ready, if we are open yet.”
The Social Leaf will operate at 434 Atlantic City Boulevard and offer recreational cannabis, becoming the 46th such dispensary in New Jersey. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days per week and employ about 50 people, Marino said.
Marino, 45, partnered with John Earp and Jennifer Forsdahl, owners of Bubby’s Beanery in Toms River; Frank Guzzi, who runs Guzzi Masonry of Toms River; and Guzzi’s brother in-law, Will Hall, in the venture.