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Introduction
Cosmopolitan Fall River newest recreational cannabis dispensary, co-owned by former Fall River Mayor Will Flanagan, officially opened its doors for a soft inaugural on Tuesday. Located at 82 Hartwell Street, the dispensary is a stone’s leave away from the central bus stop downtown, just off I-195, and a 2-minute walk from the Fall River Government Center. It is Fall River’s fourth cannabis dispensary.
Cosmopolitan Dispensary Owned By Former Mayor Opens In Fall River
William Flanagan served as Mayor of Fall River from 2010 to 2014. Today he is the co-founder of the city’s newest recreational cannabis dispensary. The store, called Cosmopolitan Cannabis, is located downtown at 82 Hartwell Street. The company opened its doors on July 5 after receiving notice to commence operations from the Anti-Cannabis Commission. As President and General Manager of the Cosmopolitan Dispensary, previous Mayor William Flanagan promises a diverse menu of cannabis products, including flowers and foods. The company is interest in expanding in the future to manufacture its cannabis products. Cosmopolitan Cannabis hopes to stand out with its exclusive name and fun store design. It is the fourth entertaining cannabis dispensary to open in Fall River.
A former Fall River mayor is opening Fall River’s newest cannabis shop this week
Will Flanagan takes worked as a prosecutor, assistant corporation counsel, mayor of Fall River, and a defense attorney? Now add one more profession to Flanagan’s resume: marijuana entrepreneur. “It’s been fun,” said Flanagan, a father of two young daughters.
On Thursday, Flanagan and his business allies, Sunny Aroustamian and Gevorg Saribekyan, will hold a grand opening of Cosmopolitan Dispensary, a recreational cannabis shop at 82 Hartwell St. in the site of the former Salter School. The partners got their final OK from the Cannabis Control Commission on June 28.
A newly paved off-street parking lot has plenty of spaces available, and it abuts I-195, where a large green “Dispensary” sign on the top of the former school is easily seen by passing motorists.
Flanagan led a preview tour of the renovated three-story building, starting with a vestibule where staff will check in customers. He swiped a card and walked through a security door into the showroom floor with bright magenta and gray painted walls.
While many dispensaries around the Commonwealth name their dispensary with cannabis themes, Flanagan chose Cosmopolitan for his recreational dispensary. “Because I like the name, I just liked it. Again, when I looked at other dispensaries’ names, they all have the same theme, ‘wellness,’ names like that,” said Flanagan. “I just wanted to stick out — again, something fun and trying to be a little different.”
Flanagan said for now, Cosmopolitan Dispensary will solely sell recreational cannabis, but with 20,000 square feet and two upper floors available, he said the goal is to manufacture cannabis and edibles eventually.
Hartwell Location is not the first Choice
It’s been a three-year effort for Flanagan and his partners to open the doors for their marijuana venture finally.
In August 2019, Flanagan received a letter of non-opposition and a host community agreement from former mayor Jasiel Correia II, making it the 14th and last letter to be granted to a marijuana business in the city.
At the time, it took some by surprise that the then-beleaguered mayor would grant Flanagan a green light to seek a state cannabis license. The two were once allies when Correia was a freshman city councilor while Flanagan was in his second term as mayor. They became political foes in 2014 when Correia claimed Flanagan tried to intimidate him with a gun. The story was made public during the successful effort to recall Flanagan. Flanagan produce a polygraph that he claimed proved the story was false, and ultimately never faced any charges in the incident, which was resolved in a civil suit in 2015.
When Flanagan received the letter of non-opposition, he had plans to locate the recreational dispensary at 164 Durfee St., the site of a small convenience store and fast-food chicken take-out restaurant.
“It was near the First Step Inn,” said Flanagan, referencing the homeless shelter. “It was a lovely location, and then we had the community meeting at the library; for the most part, people were very supportive.
Customer Service and Pricing are Key
Flanagan is the president and general manager of Cosmopolitan Dispensary, and also, the new role means he will be scaling back on his defense attorney practice. He sees a bright future for the Hartwell Street dispensary.
“We’ve got a great location, but I think what is going to bring people here is the customer service, because I get that, and the pricing and the quality of product,” said Flanagan.
Flanagan said his partner, Aroustamian, a Brockton business owner with a dispensary in that city, is “probably one of the best businessmen I’ve ever met.”
“Between him and I, we’ve developed relationships with growers in Massachusetts, where we are currently getting unbelievable pricing. It’s probably even cheaper than if we were to grow our own. So that allows us to offer a product that people want at a low price with customer service,” said Flanagan. Flanagan said Cosmopolitan Dispensary will have a diverse menu of products from flowers, edibles, and pre-rolls. Flanagan said they’re waiting for the delivery of a freezer they recently purchased.
