Pretty Baked holds press party to celebrate its first 4/20 in Ford City

Ford City’s Pretty Baked Cannabis Co., a new cannabis accessory shop, celebrated its first 4/20 by bringing in specialized equipment and encouraging people to “play with their pot.”

The women-run business on Saturday — the cannabis culture is celebrated annually on April 20 — brought in a mobile rosin press operated by fellow female entrepreneur Alicia Jimmerfield of The Squishy Hippie.

“I squish the weed and it produces an extract,” said Jimmerfield. “You can make topicals, you can make edibles, and you can smoke it or vaporize it.”

Pretty Baked opened at 1067 Drouillard Rd. in early January to cash in on the budding pot industry. The shop offers various accessories and entertainment like old-school video games, and provides a spot for people to hang out.

“It’s just a little 4/20 party,” said Pretty Baked co-owner Kaitlyn (Kat) Blondin. “It’s our first year in the shop. I was like, there’s no way we can’t have something in shop — so we’ve got (Jimmerfield) coming today, we’ve got some munchies and we’re just celebrating.”

 

Blondin said the shop invited Squishy Hippie for the celebration as a learning experience, given a lot of people don’t know what a rosin press does.

“They don’t understand what it can do and it’s really convenient to use,” she said. “It’s just another way to play with your weed — that’s what I like about it.”

 

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Pretty Baked offered the free press service at its party all afternoon, as neighbours trickled in to check out the shop or pick up supplies. Because the store can’t legally sell cannabis, the idea was for people to bring in their own product.

“I wanted it to be about the neighbourhood,” Blondin said of the 4/20 event. “Foot traffic around here is good so I wanted everybody to come in and visit.”

Meanwhile, the city’s third annual Epic 420 Festival ran for three days, from Thursday to Saturday, at Charles Clark Square in downtown Windsor. It featured  speakers, live music, DJs and pot-friendly vendors.

 

Being a women-run business, Blondin said it’s important to her and co-owner Jessica Rasgado to collaborate with as many female entrepreneurs as possible.

Pretty Baked aims to provide a safe space for women.

“We just want to make sure the girls know, come on in, we’re chill, be comfortable with us,” she said.

Blondin said walking into cannabis accessory shops is intimidating for some, so they offer something different.

“We wanted to make it where you would feel comfortable sitting down like this and learning about your weed,” she said. “Because you have a lot of questions going into an accessory shop and you don’t want to ask them.”

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