Route 10 in Whately, a small, swampy farm town along the Connecticut River in Western Massachusetts, a 50-year-old strip joint called Club Castaway hopes to enjoy another half-century in business by hitching its future to the state’s $1.4 billion cannabis market.
“Club Castaway has a long-running reputation, and we think the next step is to be the country's first topless cannabis dispensary,” says Sokol. “It’s a unique opportunity to put Whately on the map.” “We’re responding to a certain amount of demand,” says Spagnola. “There's a segment of consumers who wouldn’t mind to have this type of experience when they go and purchase cannabis.”The entrepreneurs, who are also partners in a soon-to-open dispensary in East Boston, bought Club Castaway in 2019 from the founder, who went by the name “Jimmy the Greek,” for a reported $400,000, and they say they expect to invest $1 million into the dispensary.