Former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura visiting for grand opening
The Mellow Fellow is expanding to Princeton with a splash during the Rum River Festival.
The family-owned THC and CBD store opened its first location in Milaca in 2022 and is now preparing to open its third location at 114 South Rum River Drive in the Princeton Mall with a grand opening set for Saturday, June 8.
“This is our third Mellow Fellow location. We’ve been wanting to get into Princeton for a while, looking for a good opportunity. One finally arose this spring in the old Coffee Corner location, and we jumped on it,” owner Joe Opager said. “We’re a franchise store, now which is kind of cool.”
The Mellow Fellow sells THC and CBD related products including gummies, baked goods, beverages, and more, and Opager is excited to expand that market into the Princeton community.
“We have a bunch of customers coming to our Milaca store from Princeton. There’s nowhere around here where people can get THC beverages that are easily accessible, so we just saw a need,” Opager said. “We also want to establish our presence in Mille Lacs County. This is our home, this is where we live, so who better than a local family to run a business here.”
With the opening of the new location, Opager is looking forward to spreading information about cannabis and the various benefits it can have on a person’s health.
“We’re (looking forward to) spreading the awareness of cannabis. There’s a lot of benefits that can be taken from it whether it’s sleep, pain, anxiety, or relaxation, there’s a lot of positive benefits from it,” Opager said. “We’re here to show people that it’s not scary, it’s something that can be used to benefit a lot of people.”
But that’s not all The Mellow Fellow is excited to offer the day of its grand opening. The store is expecting a visit from former Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura.
Ventura recently partnered with Retro Bakery on a cannabis line of baked good and gummies that The Mellow Fellow has been selling in its Milaca location, and soon the Princeton location.
“(Jesse Ventura is) just traveling around the state promoting his products and doing meet-and-greets with his fans. It was something we absolutely wanted to take advantage of,” Opager said. “It’s a big deal, and getting the opportunity to bring him to Princeton for our grand opening was a natural fit and it’s something we’re super excited about. His products are pretty great, too. I’ve tried his gummies, and his chocolate bars are big sellers.”
Ventura is expected at the Princeton location at 2:30 p.m. where he will visit with fans for about an hour.
Opager expects that the Princeton location will do just as well as the Milaca location in terms of its success.
“Princeton has a much bigger population than Milaca, and our Milaca store has been great. So we expect great things here as well,” Opager said. “It is extremely exciting. It’s been very stressful, but I couldn’t do it without the help of my family. They’re all helping out and pitching in. It’s been a huge family effort. We hope it’s rewarding.”
The Mellow Fellow also has a location in Onamia that opened in March of this year.
Each location is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays, and is closed on Mondays.
To learn more about The Mellow Fellow or to view its products, visit https://themellowfellow.shop/.
Reach Chloe Smith at chloe.smith@apgecm.com
Most Popular
Comments / 0