High Plainz Strains, a new cannabis dispensary, opened its shop in Fort Lupton April 2 with something a little different: a four-lane drive-thru where you can stop and order without leaving your vehicle.
“Our goal is to provide a convenient, safe, and enjoyable shopping experience for all our customers while continuing to uphold the highest standards of product quality and compliance,” said Tucker Eldridge, director of operations.
It’s been a growing process for Eldridge and owner John Rotherham to plant the seed for their concept and get the City of Fort Lupton to put it on the ballot. It’s been five years of planning, permits and physical labor to make it happen.
“It passed in 2019, to let us open a dispensary in Fort Lupton. I’ve been working on building out this dispensary for the last three years. We ripped down the old building ourselves using sledgehammers,” Eldridge said.
The dispensary is open at 1330 Factory Circle in Fort Lupton.
The drive-thru lanes feature banking-style vacuum tubes to handle most transactions – from transferring ID, products, cash payments, and debit cards. The budtenders sit inside with a terminal and speaker to communicate with the customers. On the customer side, each bay has a credit card terminal and PIN pad.
“We’re working with a company right now to bring that technology here, where you’ll be able to send your debit card to us, and then we will scan it. You type in your PIN on the terminal, and then we will send everything right back to you,” Eldridge said.
Greg Harris, marketing manager for the company, said work on the drive-thru section is not finished. They will add more advertising space, banners, and bollard covers in more colors. The company tested its first drive-through shop in Garden City in eastern Weld County.
“When we did our first drive-thru in Garden City, it was a single lane on the side of the building, and we had 350 people drive through,” Harris said. “So normally, customers will come into the store and see what we have first so they get an idea of what kind of products we have, and then they will start coming through the drive-thru a little more often.”
The company has two more High Plainz Strains dispensaries in Northern Colorado – in Greeley and Sedgwick.
Rotherham said they have another dispensary business, Natures Herbs and Wellness of Colorado, which has dispensaries in Milliken, Greeley, Fort Morgan and Sedgwick. The Milliken dispensary was built from scratch as a modern, state-of-the-art dispensary.
“It has a glass floor looking down into the extraction kitchen where they make the gummies and a lot of the products,” he said.
Bud tender Manny Ramos is showing the quality the of flower High Plainz and variety dispensary sells. Credit: Belen Ward 
Noal Grahl working the inside of the drive-thru dispensary. Credit: Belen Ward 
Tucker Eldridge Director of Operations in the four lane drive-thru with vacuum pumps. Credit: Belen Ward 
Tucker Eldridge Director of Operations showing the vacuum pump used for transactions. Credit: Belen Ward
High Plainz Strains sells a variety of quality top-shelf flower cannabis, edibles and concentrates. The company will celebrate in April with the Fort Lupton grand opening, exclusive promotions, giveaways, and entertainment.