BENZONIA — Great Lakes Natural Remedies, which has been selling medical marijuana in Benzonia since December will soon be expanding its business to recreational adult-use marijuana.

Sarah Foss, chief sales and marketing officer for Great Lakes Natural Remedies, said their Benzonia store will begin selling recreational adult-use marijuana on Friday.

Great Lakes Natural Remedies is located at 1983 Benzie Highway, near the Crystal Plaza shopping center.

“Everything we sell is personally vetted; it’s clean medicine,” Foss said. “We believe we can truly help our patients.”

Foss said Great Lakes Natural Remedies is vertically integrated, and cultivates, processes and provides in house grown flowers.

“We have our own genetics, to keep quality up,” Foss said. “Most of our strains are testing in the mid 20s in the percentile for potency of THC. We do have a few lower. We also have a few brands of concentrate, and our own in house brand will be launching in April.”

She also said they have several other local brands, and Rick Simpson Oil, a full spectrum cannabis oil used by cancer patients. Great Lakes Natural Remedies also sells edibles, including gummies, baked goods, chocolates and mints.

“We also have vape pens,” Foss said. “They’ve all been tested in accordance with the vitamin E acetate rules that have come out lately.”

Foss said the recreational side of the business will be mostly the same types of products.

She also said Great Lakes Natural Remedies plans to open stores across Michigan, and Benzonia is their first open location. Other locations include Manistee, Muskegon, Warren, Saginaw County and Spaulding Township.

“We try make each store fit each community,” Foss said. “Benzonia is a little more rustic. It makes customers feel comfortable. We’re trying to fit the outdoor vibe of the community. It’s not quite as boutique as the other places.”

Foss said employees are trained to be professional and help get customers the right products for their own unique needs.

“Everybody believes cannabis is a quality of life product and plant,” she said.

Great Lakes Natural Remedies’ main campus for growing is in Saginaw, but Foss said they hope to have growing facilities throughout the state.

“We’re excited to have the first retail location open, and having it open in the Benzonia area is exciting,” said Trevor Wisniewski, president of Great Lakes Natural Remedies Inc. “As a small child, I grew up driving from Saginaw up to fish on the Betsie, Manistee and Platte rivers.”

Wisniewski said a portion of the proceeds from the Benzonia store would go to the Conservation Resource Alliance to help protect the Betsie River.

Great Lakes Natural Remedies is open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.

A grand opening is scheduled for April.

For more information on Great Lakes Natural Remedies, visit myglnr.com.