While the exterior of a former fortune-teller space at the corner of Hollister and Fairview remains unassuming, the bright red signs for Megan’s Organic Market invite locals into a cheerful cannabis shop. There’s ample parking, cute shopping baskets, and, inside, friendly budtenders ready to answer your cannabis questions. Megan Souza, the mother of the operation, owns four dispensaries in San Luis Obispo, Corona, El Centro, and now Goleta.
Megan’s is among the most welcoming of Goleta’s five dispensaries. And that’s her modus operandi. Megan began her cannabis career in 2010 with her husband, who owned a farm in Cayucos. “We started with cultivation, then added delivery under Prop. 15 in 2013 for S.L.O. and Santa Barbara counties,” she said. “Our all-female delivery staff wore cute handmade aprons and carried picnic baskets. People loved it.”
Those people, who Megan thought would primarily be college students, were folks wary of other cannabis delivery services but curious about products for medicinal support. “Our brand attracts people new to cannabis because it’s approachable,” she said. “We wanted to make the cannabis retail experience more normalized and comfortable. Women who lived alone or the elderly or people with serious health issues were a large part of our customer base then.” Now, Megan’s storefront appeals to everyone (you must be 21 years of age or older or 18+ with a valid medical ID to enter).
The excitement was palpable in the line around the corner for Megan’s recent grand opening. “Cannabis is for everyone, all ages, all political affiliations,” says Megan. And it seemed like everyone was in Old Town that Friday morning, from college students to professionals to oldies. The energy felt like good news; everyone was curious about their newest neighbor. And curious about the goodie bags for the first 150 people in the store.
Coming from a farming background and advocating clean cannabis, Megan stocks her shelves with items that are lab-tested and verified not to contain residual pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides. She also makes her own — Megan’s brand flower is one of the Goleta dispensary’s top sellers. Kiva Confections’ Camino Midnight Blueberry gummies and Wyld’s Elderberry gummies are also popular. Megan explains, “They’re both designed to help with sleep. They contain the minor cannabinoid, CBN, along with low amounts of THC.”
An Old Town resident, I asked Megan why Old Town and why Goleta? Turns out, Megan’s husband went to UCSB and this was their old stomping grounds. “It’s the Central Coast, which is our home base,” she said. “I went to Cal Poly. Our flagship store is in S.L.O., and Goleta has a similar vibe. Old Town is the cool part of Goleta right now. This is an up-and-coming spot.”
And the neighborhood has soul. “This community is awesome,” she said. “So many of the neighboring businesses have stopped by to say hi. The other dispensary welcomed us, and Santa Barbara Gift Baskets brought a welcome basket.” Old Town Coffee. Noodle City. Oat Bakery — we agreed the neighborhood also has good food.
Community involvement is a must for Megan, and you’ll see more of her team doing good around town. They’re on the waitlist to adopt a stretch of Highway 1 for a monthly clean-up. They’ll be involved in Old Town Goleta’s Art Walk, and they’re working with the Chamber of Commerce to assemble a crew to help clean up the waterway by the Goleta Slough.
Megan also leased the larger space connected to the store, the old-fashioned building with wooden paneling and large windows. Still mostly vacant, Megan’s using it for office space and a break room, but she’s applied with the City of Goleta to turn it into an onsite consumption lounge, an emerging trend in California.
