The Bread Store sets closing date with transition to marijuana dispensary imminent
The Bread Store will close Feb. 7 before construction begins to turn its 5,500-square-foot midtown Sacramento building into a marijuana dispensary, co-owner Andy Smith announced in a Facebook post Tuesday night.
Smith opened The Bread Store at 1716 J St. in 1990, back before midtown was the entertainment and retail district it is today. He co-owns the building and previously said he would likely keep The Bread Store running were the dispensary to be rejected.
Safe Accessible Solutions, which currently sells recreational and medicinal marijuana products in an industrial park off Power Inn Road, plans to rebrand itself “Kolas” upon moving into the midtown building.
In December, the city’s Planning and Design Commission gave the green light for Safe Accessible Solutions to open in the Bread Store’s midtown location. The plan needed commission approval because the location is within 300 feet of a residential area, and within 600 feet of a church, drug rehabilitation center and tobacco retailer, a staff report said.
The following week, the owner of the property next door filed an appeal, forcing the pot shop to get City Council approval before it could open. Jeff Berger, who filed the appeal, complained to the commission the dispensary would decrease property values and create parking issues in the area.
Before it could go to City Council, the appeal was withdrawn, city planner Robby Thacker said Wednesday. As a result, the city approval is now final.
The dispensary still needs a building permit and final occupancy permit from the city to be finalized before it can open, Thacker said.
Multiple generations grew up going to The Bread Store, and Smith told The Sacramento Bee he was touched by how many people reached out to share memories after he announced the imminent closure. He described the feeling as “bittersweet,” and said though retirement won’t happen anytime soon, his professional baking career will likely be over when The Bread Store closes at about 4 p.m. on Feb. 7.
“You realize how long you’ve been doing it and how many customers are so affected by our little bakery that going to close down,” Smith said. “We’re not the trendiest, for sure. We never were, we never tried to be. We just did really good stuff, and people appreciated it.”
This story was originally published January 30, 2019 at 3:13 PM.
