The 96-year-old co-founder of this Massachusetts cannabis dispensary wanted to give people jobs and ‘a better way of life’
Updated 6:04 AM;
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Everyone at the Western Front cannabis dispensary in Chelsea looks up to Marvin Gilmore.
Not many would guess that a 96-year-old who has never used cannabis would want to build a dispensary. But for Gilmore, breaking into the cannabis industry was just another way to create opportunities for communities of color. As he put it, a way to find people who needed jobs and a better way of life.
“You take them off the street and give them something to do. Very important,” Gilmore said in a phone interview from Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, where he was recovering from a recent surgery. “There’s not many opportunities or ideas for us and so this came about when cannabis went mainstream, so we took it and we ran with it.”
Founders hope Chelsea marijuana store will be an engine of opportunity
By John Laidler Globe Correspondent,Updated December 10, 2020, 3:49 p.m.
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Marvin Gilmore (right), co-founder of Western Front, assists a customer on opening day in the Chelsea store.Athel Rogers
Chelseaâs first recreational marijuana shop hopes it can do more for the city than simply meeting the local demand for cannabis.
Western Front, which opened Nov. 3, is among the few stores owned by people of color in the stateâs new adult marijuana industry. Its founders want the business to not only thrive but become a source of economic opportunity for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.