Verano Opens Third Dispensary In Illinois – Zen Leaf In Charleston

Cannabis company Verano opened its third Zen Leaf dispensary in Illinois.

The new shop — located at 909 Lincoln Ave. in Charleston — is set to sell adult-use cannabis products, from concentrates and edibles to flower. It also offers an online pre-order service for in-store pick up on the same day.

This is Verano’s 19^th running dispensary in the country, and the multi-state operator said it plans to open more locations across Illinois including Zen Leaf dispensaries at 1516 N. Naper Blvd. in Naperville and three dispensaries in the Chicago suburbs.

What’s interesting is that Zen Leaf in Charleston has around 30 employees, out of which more than half are female.

Verano projects for sales to yield in excess of $600,000 in new tax revenue locally.

"Zen Leaf prides itself on providing safe, legal access to the health, wellness and happiness cannabis provides, and our Charleston dispensary will provide this portion of the state with access to high-quality, regulated cannabis products," stated Verano chair and CEO George Archos. "We're grateful that Charleston provided an opportunity for us to invest, create jobs and generate new tax revenue that can be reinvested in the community."

The Illinois cannabis market is also "one of the fastest growing in the country," Archos says.

Cannabis sales in the Prairie State have been booming. According to state regulators, Illinois is on the track of hitting $1 billion in medical and adult-use sales this year.