Lucky’s Market takes leap with CBD, now selling hemp extracts nationwide
Published: Oct 9, 2017, 10:57 am • Updated: Oct 9, 2017, 10:58 am
By Alicia Wallace, The Cannabist Staff
For a brief moment last month, it appeared a retail giant was on track to change the course of cannabidiol sales in the United States.
In late September, Target.com quietly began selling a selection of hemp-derived extracts rich in the cannabis compound commonly known as CBD. The decision for the multinational retailer to sell Denver-based CW Hemp’s products was viewed as bold — perhaps even a challenge to the government entities and others questioning the legality of such extracts derived from hemp.
Target backed away — pulling the products — and the companies clammed up after The Cannabist reported that CBD items were available to purchase on Target.com. Aside from releasing a brief statement confirming the products’ removal, neither Target nor CW Hemp returned multiple calls and emails seeking comment.
All the while, there was another national retailer preparing to disrupt the CBD status quo. And this company won’t be changing its mind.
“We’re not afraid to be disruptive and pave the path and be pioneers,” said Sindy Wise, Lucky Market’s director of apothecary.
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Lucky’s, a growing natural-foods chain with mom-and-pop grocery roots in Boulder, is now selling nearly a dozen brands of CBD-rich hemp extract products at its 25 stores across the nation. The chain-wide launch included its Lucky’s private-label line of full-spectrum hemp oils, salves and body butters.
The hemp items headlined Lucky’s Sept. 27 rollout of products made from “adaptogenic” plants, described as natural substances that promote biological balance and help the body adapt to stress. In addition to CBD products, the chain’s apothecary sells Reishi and Shiitake mushrooms, holy basil (tulsi), Rhodiola, ginseng and licorice.
Lucky’s went big with the launch, touting CBD oils and adaptogenic plants in its October magazine and dedicating two full shelving displays in the Apothecary section of its stores. But the chain also was calculated — selling products beyond hemp oil and offering hemp-extract products made into topicals that are applied to the skin, as well as consumable powders and capsules.
At Lucky’s south Boulder store, Wise said some full-spectrum hemp companies were expanding their products line, highlighting a brand of CBD-rich powdered drink blends that complemented hemp extract with ayurvedic spices, plants and herbs such as turmeric and maca.
Taking a potentially “revolutionary” leap was a no-brainer for Lucky’s, Wise said.
The company’s founder Bo Sharon advocates for “positive disruption,” and that includes staying ahead of trends in the natural-products industry and, most important, responding to consumer requests, she said.
“Customers are trying to find these solutions and trying to find these products,” she said, adding that Lucky’s role involves serving as a provider of quality sourced products in addition to educator.
And considering hemp-derived extracts, she added, the role extends to that of stigma-breaker.
“This is the next big thing in terms of natural medicine,” she said.
Lucky’s has had hemp extracts in its sights for more than a year, and Wise bore witness to the products’ legal and regulatory roller-coaster ride.
The CBD extract industry, already booming, got a nice bump after voters in eight more states sought to legalize medical or recreational marijuana last November. Then came the chill: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration moved forward on new drug-code regulations for cannabis extracts, in the process reaffirming its position that CBD-rich extracts — even those derived from hemp — are Schedule I controlled substances.
That uncertainty scared both the makers of the extracts and the retailers hoping to sell them, Wise said.
Wise and Lucky’s paused, but then went full speed ahead after seeing hemp companies marketing their products at the Natural Products Expo West, the natural and organic industry’s largest trade show. Lucky’s struck up conversations with vendors and conferred closely with lawyers for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to ensure that labeling and other standards were being met, Wise said.
Lucky’s moved fast and went big to have the products launch before the holidays and before next year, when the Niwot, Colorado-based grocer — which has some financial backing from grocery giant Kroger Co. — is expected to open another 20 stores.
“It is legal, otherwise we wouldn’t sell it,” Wise said.
Others, including DEA officials, have disagreed, claiming that the extracts derived from industrial hemp operations allowed under federal and state laws remain illicit.
Hemp industry members have challenged that interpretation by taking the DEA to court.
“We disagree with (the DEA’s) position and feel that CBD and whole-plant extracts from hemp (pursuant to the 2014 Farm Bill, hemp amendment and state industrial hemp pilot program regulations) are fully lawful,” said Patrick Goggin, an attorney with Denver-based Hoban Law Group, who is representing the hemp industry members in their legal petitions.
That the retailer is trading in something taboo is not lost on Wise and Lucky’s officials.
“It’s something that is right and that something is what consumers want,” Wise said. “It is a risk. And it is definitely putting ourselves out there.
“It’s companies like this that are willing to take that risk that changes everything forever.”
Topics: cannabidiol, cbd, cbd oil, chain retailers, Colorado, hemp, hemp extracts, hemp oil 
Alicia Wallace
Alicia Wallace joined The Cannabist in July 2016, covering national marijuana policy and business. In her 14 years as a business news reporter, her coverage has spanned topics such as the economy, natural foods, airlines, biotech, retail,…
