Why Detroit mother-and-son team signed national company’s first cannabis franchise deal in Michigan

Mother-son business partners Patricia Allen and Michael Henry help navigate the labyrinthine structure of the cannabis industry in Michigan: They have decided on a franchise.

Phoenix-based Unity Rd., Which bills itself as the first cannabis dispensary in the United States, has signed its first Michigan deal. Allen and Henry plan to open a recreational cannabis dispensary in Detroit once the city’s market opens. Right now, the city only allows medical marijuana because its regulation on adult cannabis use is being challenged in court for favoring certain long-term Detroit residents.

Allen and Henry fall into this category because, as legacy Detroit applicants, they would receive the first dibs in the city’s review process for a license to open a retail location.

Unity’s franchise model requires $ 1 million in liquid capital, a total investment of up to $ 2.5 million, and a franchise fee of $ 100,000. The goal is to open more than 20 pharmacies in Michigan with franchisees. The company signed a contract with Henry and Allen on April 23.

Henry spoke to Crain’s about why they got into the business, why they decided not to go all alone, and what’s next.

Crain’s: Tell me about how you decided to get into the cannabis business.

Henry: My mother is retired in Michigan. (She) doesn’t want to act like a pensioner. She did a lot of consulting with the Department of Health and Human Services and the (US Centers for Disease Control), and after a while we decided to pool our efforts and start a joint company.

We are always looking for different industries and ways to get involved. We got some extensive experience together, but we looked at the cannabis opportunities and decided that with our skills combined, we had a good chance of being one of the surviving businesses, you know, and doing well here in Detroit.

How did you get started on the franchise path?

We looked at various resources. (Incubator Program) The Detroit Cannabis Project was a really cool resource. A number of online resources for training … and we both have a few friends who are in the industry.

When we started hearing about Unity Road. and the institution of this knowledge and experience that they have, we decided that this was the best way to go.

An institution that has knowledge that you can use, which of course can also be applied to other industries. But what are the cannabis specific challenges that you think would help as a franchisee?

Studying an industry is one thing but when you’ve seen a lot of the problems that arise you know firsthand and advise people what not to do and what to do and we were really concerned about hearing companies who invested a ton of money and ended up with fines or on lists and not in compliance with regulators. Understand how to organize a capital pile and have contacts in the supply chain.

How did you cope with the uncertain situation in Detroit at the moment?

We’re in the phase, we’ve put together a team of investors, done initial certification through the state process, and just waiting for the Detroit process to open. We trust the Detroit legal team to come up with a revised plan that will work for the judge and serve the goals of the city.

We are really at the stage now where we are trying to value real estate … and this process is pretty intense.