And he never thought he would have the opportunity to legally sell it.

The former owner of Yeti Vape, 607 W. Third St., is now CEO of Yeti Greenery, which is at the same location.

Ellis said he and his family are passionate about cannabis. “Realistically, when the opportunity came, we decided that we wanted to be a part of the (cannabis) industry. And what’s nice is we already had the retail experience from the vape store when we were Yeti Vape,” Ellis said.

Yeti Vape was in business from 2013 through June of this year. Ellis said in 2014 is when the location changed to Third Street. In October 2023 was when Ellis applied for the cannabis retail license and in May he received it from New York State, and opened June 9.

From left to right are Yeti Greenery Manager Matt Recktenwald, Budtender Tara Green, and Co-owner Brian Ellis. Submitted photo

“Yeti has been in the area for 12 years. It’s just a natural progression,” Ellis said.

The reason for the switch, Ellis noted, was that the state was becoming very prohibitive on vaping and vaping products.

Ellis said one unique aspect of Yeti Greenery is the interactive bud bar.

“Each strain that we have on display is in its own little pod,” Ellis said.

He explained that the pod is on a tether much like patrons would see at cell phone stores. He added that there is a magnifier, so patrons can look at the flower in more detail, and then there is an option to smell the product.

“And that was something that we really wanted to bring,” Ellis said about the tether.

He said cannabis buyers sometimes don’t know what they have purchased until they get into the product. Ellis added that the tether helps to ensure customer satisfaction.

“And at least this way, it gives somebody an opportunity to say, ‘Hey, I like what it looks like. I like what it smells like. You know, this, this is the one that I want to go with,'” Ellis said.

Ellis noted that there is the ability to put up to 40 strains of cannabis on display.

“Cannabis is very personal for people,” Ellis said. “So some people, they’re looking for different effects. Some people are looking for different flavors. And ultimately, what happens is this actually gives people an idea to really kind of get to know what they’re buying before they buy it.”

Ellis explained that the cannabis that is sold at Yeti Greenery comes from state licensed distributors and processors. In case of any issues or recalls, he added, that all legal cannabis in the state is tracked from seed to sale. The packaging of state cannabis sold in the store has a QR code, so customers can access the test results of that product.

At Yeti Greenery, Ellis said, cannabis accessories also are sold. The grand opening, he said, will be held later in the summer.

For more information contact (716) 543-9384, visit yetigreenery.com or email hello@yetigreenery.com. Ellis added also there are Yeti Greenery cell phone applications available for Android and iOS.