April 20 is the biggest sales day of the year for many Vancouver business owners who sell products related to marijuana.
A popular buzz-phrase to describe marijuana smoking is 420 – which means April 20 has evolved to be a de facto national pot smoking day for many, dubbed 420 Day.
Throngs of people are expected to be openly smoking pot near the Vancouver Art Gallery around 4.20 p.m. today.
Entrepreneur Jasper Kastiel, who owns the Bobby Dazzler store in Coquitlam Centre, told Business in Vancouver that her sales on April 20 last year were about double what she would have done on an ordinary Wednesday afternoon.
But not all pot paraphernalia retailers believe that their sales boost will be that large.
Jason Gaudin, who owns Cottonmouth Smoke Shop on Davie Street, said that he will send staff to the rally at the art gallery to hand out stickers but that the event’s demographics are great for business.
“It seems like most of the people who show up at that thing are the kids who don’t quite have money yet,” he told BIV April 19.
“I don’t get a lot of a sales boost and, if I do, it’s more on the smaller end of the scale.”
Gaudin added that, overall, business has been picking up for his seven-year-old store.
