A lot can happen in four years. Four years is enough time to start and finish high school, complete an entire presidential term, or in New Jersey, it can be just enough time to open a dispensary.
“Be patient, have a lot of money and patience, and really know what you’re getting into.”
That was the advice given to Rootwurks by Kelly Gatto, president and owner of Brute's Roots, a vertically integrated cannabis dispensary in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey. Gatto is the majority owner of the dispensary, which is considered a WBE (“Women Business Enterprise”).
Gatto said the company, formerly Greenhouse Wellness of NJ, submitted the application for its vertically integrated cannabis license in August 2019 and was approved in October 2021. The company was finally awarded its cultivation and dispensary permit in April 2023 and had its first transaction on May 8th, nearly four years after beginning the process.
The company launched as a medical cannabis-only dispensary and began its adult-use soft opening on August 23rd. On September 1st, the dispensary will have its grand opening featuring live music and several giveaways.
Gatto said that the company also plans to package its cannabis flower by the beginning of September and to have its manufacturing facility producing edibles and concentrates by the end of the year.
“It’s vertical (integrated), the whole package deal - three permits under one license. We wanted to bring our own brand,” Gatto said.
Gatto said she and co-owner and fiancee Jimmy DiNatale were born and raised and live in the same county as the dispensary, which is located less than 30 minutes from their cultivation facility.
The majority of their employees are locals and according to Gatto “I’m flooded every day with kids coming from other companies wanting to come work for us because they’re tired of the corporate side.”
Gatto described the company as a large family of sorts, in which everyone works closely together and it is regulated, close communication between the cultivation and retail teams.
Family also features in the company’s name. Gatto said it is a reference to family roots and the roots of the cannabis plant as well as an homage to Jimmy’s late father “Jimmy the Brute,” the grandfather of former top Trump White House aide Kellyanne Conway and an alleged underworld figure.
Family also provided inspiration for going into the cannabis industry. Gatto, a registered nurse, said that when her late father was ill with pancreatic cancer cannabis helped him cope with pain and nausea and improved his appetite.
Finding real estate is one of the biggest challenges facing cannabis companies in New Jersey. Kelly and Jimmy were fortunate to some extent because Jimmy already owned the building in Winslow Township that would become the cultivation facility used by Brute’s Roots.
But there were other headaches. The site they originally found for their dispensary had to be scrapped after the local municipality changed its ordinance that allowed retail cannabis shops.
Gatto said she has a file with the ordinances for every town in South Jersey that has approved retail cannabis and that on Sundays, she and Jimmy would drive around looking for buildings. If they saw something that could work they’d check the file and then make a call.
“This one would say it [the dispensary] has to be 200 feet from a church, this one says it must be 500 feet away from any residences. Every town is different and has different ordinances, it’s extremely challenging.”
The building they eventually found for the dispensary used to be a nail salon. Brute’s Roots now rents out the storefront, as well as the unit next door in the four-unit shopping plaza.
Growing cannabis outdoors can be difficult in a climate like that of New Jersey. But Brute’s Roots uses five greenhouses - which Gatto said were supplied by Amish providers in Pennsylvania.
The company has a maximum allowed grow canopy of 30,000 square feet. Gatto said their first harvest was in August and their second one will be in September. In both harvests they produced around 500 pounds of cannabis flower, she added.
The company has developed a “sun-grown” logo for their packaging, as a way to tour the efficiency of their cultivation process.
It may also help them stand out in a legal cannabis industry in which creating a profitable, successful company is especially difficult.
“It’s up there with some of the more challenging and expensive businesses to get up and running. It’s something you have to prepare for,” Gatto said.
Gatto said that the transition from medical-only to medical and recreational cannabis changes everything, and for obvious reasons.
“We had to open as medical only and on our best day we’d sit there and maybe 12 customers would come in. Then you go down the street [to the recreational dispensary] and they’re probably seeing 500 customers a day.”
When asked if legal cannabis can ever defeat the illicit market in New Jersey, Gatto was skeptical at best, especially when considering how much cheaper illicit cannabis can be.
“It depends on the price. As long as the prices are in these ranges right now, I don’t see the market going away.”
She added that “with us producing our own product, all of which is lab tested, this can attract customers. Because regardless of the price there’s the safety part of it.”
Gatto mentioned how people in New Jersey are willing to pay as much as $70 for an eighth of cannabis, depending on the brand, significantly more than the prices on the street.
Regardless of the challenges, Brute’s Roots is in the midst of a major rollout for New Jersey’s adult-use cannabis market.
When asked what advice she has for would-be entrepreneurs looking to join them in retail cannabis, she said “just understand that it’s very costly and make sure you’re up for it. There may be times that you see a lot go out and not much coming in yet. So just prepare for that and for the fact that it’s a lot of work."