A recreational cannabis dispensary co-owned by Jason Ackerman, the founder and former CEO of online grocery delivery service FreshDirect, is poised to launch in New Jersey.
Scheduled to open Dec. 9 in Ackerman’s hometown of Roselle Borough, Joyleaf aims to offer customers an interactive shopping experience, as well as reassure the community that its first dispensary is packed with hands-on experience in running a safe and compliant cannabis venture.
The storefront at 711 E. First Ave. is also located in a former wall cover factory owned by Ackerman’s family that operated in town for over 50 years.
Prior to helping build Joyleaf, Ackerman founded FreshDirect in 1999 and spent nearly 20 years leading the Long Island, N.Y.-headquartered business. From November 2019 through June 2021, he was CEO and executive chairman of cannabis giant TerrAscend, a multistate operator that has nearly 40 dispensaries nationwide, including three in New Jersey.