Wait times are anticipated to drop to under two minutes for medical cannabis patients as WholesomeCo Cannabis’s new indoor drive-thru and express pick-up facilities officially opened to the public on Nov. 12.
“We want to meet patients where they are on their personal journeys,” said Chris Jeffery, CEO and co-founder.
With WholesomeCo Cannabis’ newly constructed express pickup window, patients can order ahead through the WholesomeCo app or website, check in with their valid ID and medical card, and carry on through their order transaction — all without having to wait in line for new patients wanting to consult with a pharmacist.
“Our wait times are cut in half,” said Sarah Stokes, vice president of demand operations.
After months of construction, air quality filtration implementation, control testing and traffic adapting, the company’s indoor drive-thru is ready to service up to 14 cars at a time.
The indoor drive-thru can be located on the West side of the company’s main building through the warehouse bay doors. Upon entering, drivers are steered toward one of two lanes, depending on vehicle size, before beginning the turn around the semi-circle that makes up the indoor drive-thru.
“Most people decide not to drive into buildings,” Stokes joked. “Here, we are encouraging it.”
Drivers will first approach a check-in station where members of the WholesomeCo Cannabis team confirm order and pickup details. Then, drivers follow the drive-thru path to the second and final stop — the order pickup area where WholesomeCo agents deliver products window-side. In essence, drivers round a semi-circle drive-thru with one stop to check in and pay and one stop to pick up their order.
“Our drive-thru facility was designed with accessibility in mind,” Stokes said.
The first-of-its-kind indoor drive-thru wasn’t born out of a fever dream. It developed as a brainstormed solution to a longstanding problem. The company’s main building is located within a shopping center and sits between a Lowe’s and Costco parking lot.
The contributing factors of growing popularity for the medical cannabis industry within the state and the limited parking (and drive-up) space resulted in traffic lining up for WholesomeCo Cannabis not only through the shopping plaza lots, but onto the main city intersection (along 500 W. 100 N.).
“We were landlocked with traffic blocking access to the point where West Bountiful PD said we needed to figure something out,” said Tyler Stark, director or demand marketing.
Designing and constructing an indoor drive-thru was an all-hands-on-deck situation for WholesomeCo Cannabis’ team. Clients and partners, working together to ensure adequate accessibility for patients, collaborated with city officials and architects, working to ensure compliance with development and infrastructure codes.
“Every department has had a hand in the process and willingness to collaborate,” said Derek Dilley, vice president of supply operations.
The indoor drive-thru and express pickup window hours will be open from 8 a.m.-9 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays. WholesomeCo Cannabis is located at 580 W. 100 N., Bountiful.