Strain Stars, Beleaf marijuana dispensaries open in Riverhead 

This holiday season, consumers in Riverhead can shop for a new product — legal cannabis — as the town’s first two dispensaries celebrate openings.

Strain Stars, on Route 58 in Riverhead, and Beleaf, on Middle Country Road in Calverton, will each host grand openings Saturday, Dec. 7, store officials said. Both are second locations for the stores, which have sites in Farmingdale and Brooklyn, respectively.

Riverhead Town officials are bracing for an influx of potential traffic to the new businesses while anticipating a surge in tax revenue that could boost funding for local projects.

Strain Stars will occupy more than half a 14,400-square-foot commercial building just east of Tanger Outlets, according to CEO Yuvraj Singh. County property records show Riverhead 123 LLC, an affiliate of the business, bought the property in July for $9 million.

Saturday's grand opening starts at 11 a.m. and will feature booths from New York cannabis brands, food and coffee trucks, a DJ and giveaways for the first 100 people in line. “We want to get as many people through the door and see what legal cannabis is like,” Singh, 25, said.

The store will offer curbside pickup and same-day delivery and employ about 40 people full time, Singh said.

The sprawling retail space includes a secure waiting area where patrons must show ID to enter. Beyond the partition, three chandeliers hang over rows of glass displays of marijuana flowers, pre-rolled joints, vapes, edibles, accessories and other cannabis-infused products.

For the uninitiated, Singh plans to staff six “budtenders” in the store. “We’ll have them on the floor to offer a more one-on-one kind of experience and try to help fit the needs of the person,” he said.

Vacant space will be used for storage and offices, but Singh one day envisions setting up an on-site consumption lounge "once rules and regulations start to ease up," he said.

Four miles west, in Calverton, Beleaf owner Michael Reda said business has been brisk since opening Nov. 23. The brightly lit shop also is stocked with an array of cannabis products, from joints to tinctures and beverages, that customers can peruse before placing an order.

There are also express kiosks, pickups and plans to launch delivery later this year, Reda said.

A grand opening Saturday from 1-3 p.m. will feature booths from different cannabis brands, raffles and a concert ticket giveaway with the My Country 96.1 radio station, he said.

Beleaf is one of several sites that became eligible for a dispensary site after Riverhead relaxed zoning restrictions in March. 

Riverhead Police Chief Ed Frost said in an interview that police will keep “a close eye” to determine if traffic control may be needed.

“It’s going to be the first one in this area, so there will be some traffic issues most likely,” he said.

Frost said he met with owners of both Strain Stars and Beleaf. “They have an effective plan in place for processing customers in and out of the building pretty quickly,” he said.

Recreational marijuana, legalized by state lawmakers in 2021, has gotten off to a slow start on Long Island, with just four towns of 13 opting in to allow sales.

The first three dispensaries to open on Long Island were in Babylon Town. A growing number of towns have begun to opt in to cannabis sales.

In October, the first state-licensed dispensary outside of Shinnecock Nation opened in Southampton. Beleaf is planning a third location, in Medford, scheduled to open in 2025. It would become the first legal dispensary to open in Brookhaven Town, Newsday has reported.

Dispensaries are expected to bring tax revenue to the Town of Riverhead. Cannabis sales taxes generated more $1.8 million to the Town of Babylon, officials said in September, and the town plans to use the money to open up a drug treatment facility, Newsday has reported.

Riverhead Town Supervisor Tim Hubbard said he looks forward to welcoming the dispensaries and tax benefits they’ll bring. He’d like to use some of the money on capital projects such as renovating a boat ramp at Reeves Beach and for improvements at other town parks.

“What’s good about it for us is at the town level, there are no restrictions on where it can be spent,” Hubbard said.