1st Cannabis Dispensary Opens In Montgomery

MONTGOMERY, IL — The first cannabis dispensary is officially open in Montgomery.

Ivy Hall, located at in a 4,500-square-foot space at 1970 Caterpillar Drive, celebrated its grand opening May 10. The business took over the building that once housed a bank.

The company invested more than $1 million into opening the dispensary and hired about 30 employees to staff it. Staff hope to provide an "underserved market without convenient retail access" with safe, legal and regulated cannabis, according to a news release.

"We're honored to open Montgomery's first cannabis dispensary," Dominique Moses, Ivy Hall's district manager, said in a statement. "Ivy Hall provides a comfortable neighborhood boutique shopping environment, where we offer our concierge-level customer service similar to a high-end retail shopping experience."

Company executives describe Ivy Hall as a "sensory dispensary" designed to engage "all the senses to embrace the experience of cannabis." The Montgomery location is the company's fourth in Illinois. Others can be found in Crystal Lake, Waukegan and Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood.

"As a minority-owned cannabis dispensary brand, we approach our role in the state's growing cannabis industry differently, and our results speak for themselves," Greg Elliott, chief growth officer of Ivy Hall and the majority owner of the Montgomery dispensary. "We thank our state's elected leaders for creating this opportunity to obtain parity and build equity in the state's growing cannabis industry."

The dispensary's Montgomery location is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.