SAN JOSE — A successful weed dispensary plans to open a store at a high-profile downtown San Jose location, a retail outlet that could help revitalize the city’s urban core.
Purple Lotus, which is the No. 1 weed dispensary in San Jose, has struck a deal to lease a prominent ground-floor space at 66 West Santa Clara Street, a prominent location in the downtown.
“We really believe in downtown San Jose,” said Matt Krishnamachari, founder of family-owned Purple Lotus, a cannabis dispensary that for roughly 14 years has operated out of a north San Jose site near the corner of Commercial Street and Old Oakland Road.
For several years, the downtown San Jose location that Purple Lotus has leased was the site of a Peet’s Coffee shop and then a Verizon store, according to Mark Ritchie, president of Ritchie Commercial, a real estate firm that arranged the lease for Purple Lotus.
“This location is retail-ready for us,” Krishnamachari said.
Purple Lotus has leased 2,100 square feet on the ground floor of a commercial building at the corner of West Santa Clara Street and Lightson Alley, according to Ritchie. That’s a section of the downtown near bustling San Pedro Square.
“This store