New pot shop a High Point for Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe

High Point Cannabis has opened its new store on Hansville Road next to the Point Casino & Hotel.

Owned by Noo-Kayet Investments, the investment enterprise of the Port Gamble S’Klallam Tribe, the store’s new 4,200-square-foot facility replaces the trailer in which the business operated since 2018.

High Point launched as a new business in 2017 with a vision to eventually build a retail store, if sales proved out the business concept.

“There was a chance the business would eventually get a bigger and better facility if the first few years proved worthy of such a facility,” general manager Derek Christensen said. “We were challenged to start with a more humble setting and earn our way to a bigger building.

NKI “wasn’t sure how this was going to really take off and what was going to happen. Following great success the first year it was clear we were going to grow quickly. We owe it to our customers who have been very loyal to our store and hope that this new facility brings yet another higher level of service to them.”

The NKI team began working with WBK Engineering and Seven Generations Architecture + Engineering, two firms owned by Mno-Bmadsen, the business enterprise of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi. Construction of the facility was completed by JL Homes, based in Poulsbo, in under a year.

“Obviously, being in a trailer, we wanted to size up,” Christensen said. “We did upgrade immensely. The retail sales floor has basically doubled in size. Everything else was built to make sure we have the room we need. This new facility gives our staff, who strive to serve our customers, a professional environment in which to work. I can’t speak highly enough about them.”

The store opened July 26 to record sales and overwhelmingly positive customer feedback. High Point is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. All employees from the previous facility have moved to the new location. “We strive for a high level of customer service, which may require more employees, especially in this larger store,” Christensen said.

The store will also have more vendors than previously.

“It’s going to allow us to have better interaction with our customers because we won’t be walking all over each other,” he said. “We have hand-held (point-of-sale) systems so we can walk around with our customers, scan the items, put it in their cart, push it to the back and then that cart will be filled and handed through the vault window.”

Christensen said one of the most striking features of the new facility is the vinyl wrap on all four walls, which includes pictures of Mount Rainier and Port Gamble Bay. Reflecting the mountains and woods of this region, “the highest peak is a 30-foot wall,” Christensen said. “It is a beautiful scene all the way around the retail floor from floor to ceiling.”

Since High Point opened, Christensen said customer service has been the most important element of its business success.

“Customers are everything to me and I try to get that trained into each person that works with me,” he said. “If you look at our Google reviews, it’s something we’re praised upon immensely. I’ve believed in cannabis for a long time. When it became legal it gave me the opportunity to do things right.”

In the near future, NKI will be launching Ascension – a high-quality brand of medical-grade craft cannabis grown in a state-of-the-art facility. High Point, aligned with Ascension, can produce, process, distribute and retail its own products, Christensen said. He anticipates having Ascension products available in the store by the end of the year.

Product available at High Point includes flower, pre-rolls, dabs, vapes, edibles, drinks, lotions, pipes, bongs, dab rigs, and more. For more information, visit highpointmj.com.

Other cannabis shops in the North Kitsap area include Agate Dreams in Suquamish, Green Tiki Cannabis Co. in Kingston, and Paper and Leaf on Bainbridge Island.

There are also shops in Central Kitsap such as Better Buds, HWY 420 and Fillabong in Silverdale and The Reef, HWY 420, Destination HWY 420, Emerald Coast Cannabis, The Novel Tree, Budeez, and Clear Choice Cannabis in Bremerton, among others.

In South Kitsap there are Herban Market, The Pot Zone, Greenway Marijuana, Legal Marijuana Superstore, Herbal Healing, and Kitsap Cannibas 2 in Port Orchard, among others.