Kitsap County’s first recreational marijuana store opened in August of 2014 and sales soared for the next 14 months.
That trend changed abruptly in November, when the county saw its first month-to-month decline in retail marijuana sales.
Gross sales dipped by nearly 9 percent between October to November, according to numbers posted by the state Liquor and Cannabis Board:
The decline in sales wasn’t limited to Kitsap. Washington recorded its first statewide drop in retail marijuana revenue back in July, following a restructuring of the excise tax, and sales slipped again in November:
A one-month falloff in sales is far from a trend, but the decline does come at an interesting time for the industry.
The Liquor and Cannabis Board announced plans last week to lift the cap on retail licenses, as the state prepares to roll the marginally-regulated medical marijuana system into the tightly-controlled recreational marijuana system. The number of stores allowed in Kitsap would increase from 10 to 20.
Some legal marijuana sellers believe the market is already becoming saturated in Bremerton and Port Orchard, pointing to a plateau in per-store sales this fall.
The chart below shows gross sales for each of the seven active marijuana stores in Kitsap (an eighth store, called The Reef, just opened in Bremerton, and a tribally-owned store opened in Suquamish).
You can wave your mouse over the store names to highlight their sales:
