Barracks Row Medical Marijuana Dispensary Will Move to Northwest

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Barracks Row Medical Marijuana Dispensary Will Move to Northwest

by Larry Janezich

ANC6B was notified last week of the pending move of Metropolitan Wellness Center (MWC) – Barracks Row’s medical marijuana outlet –to 433 Massachusetts Avenue, NW.  The new location in Mt. Vernon Triangle was formerly occupied by a Le Pain Quotidion franchise which closed in June of 2019. The new MWC will provide cannabis flowers, cannabis concentrates and a line of edible products as well as home delivery services to registered patients in Washington, DC.

Capitol Hill Corner asked MWC co-owner Corey Barnette for comment.  Barnette said the move had been in the works for a year because MWC had outgrown its current 850 square feet of retail space.  “We’re still growing, he said, “but there are some customers we can’t serve.”  Also, there’s competition from two dispensaries which have opened – one in Ward 7 and one in Anacostia.  The company looked at M Street but zoning won’t allow them to open there; they looked at H Street, but found the same square footage problem they have on Barracks Row.

“Fortunately,” Barnette said, “we found a place on Massachusetts Avenue, NW, with 3,000 square feet on the first and second floors.  It will be cleaner, allow a more robust inventory, and be less cramped and crowded.” 

Asked when the move will take place, Barnette said “As soon and the city allows it – ideally in February.”

MWC was founded by co-owner Mike Cuthreill, the current co-managing director, in 2011.  He met Barnette in 2011, a fellow applicant for a dispensary license.  Barnette received a cultivator’s license, Cuthreill a dispensary license.  During the early days of operation, MWC struggled with a limited patient and product base, and Barnette came in as a partner. 

Barnette is an entrepreneur with extensive experience investing in small businesses with growth potential.  He received an M.B.A from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Tennessee Technological University.  He has lived in DC since 1999.