The Dispensary Of Somerset Enters Local Cannabis Market

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Another April 20 – 4/20 – and another grand opening for a cannabis adult recreational store in the township.

This time around it was The Dispensary of Somerset, 920 Hamilton Street, doing the honors.

4/20 is a veritable holiday in the cannabis world, coming to signify marijuana plants and their enjoyment.

The Dispensary joins about a half-dozen other recreational, medical and combined cannabis stores in the township, with more to come, according to documents from the state Cannabis Regulatory Commission.

In 2023, the four active cannabis stores in Franklin generated $10 million in sales and more than $200,000 in taxes to the township.

The Dispensary is located in the former Dairy Queen space in Franklin Court.

Store owner Christine Aboyoun said she was “thrilled” to open the store.

“I have a wonderful team,” she said. “Everybody who helped me with this project, I can’t thank them enough. I hope we grow with the town and are very successful.”

Aboyoun was helped in the venture by her consultant, Frank Catania, for whom she worked for 35 years.

Catania – also of The Real Housewives of New Jersey fame – said he was happy to help Aboyoun when she asked him.

A chance encounter in a supermarket with a friend who happened to own Franklin Court led to The Dispensary being located there, he said.

“He didn’t know about the cannabis, he said I have a Dairy Queen that’s going out of business, do you know anybody that may be interested in the space?” Catania said. “It was at the right time at the right place.”

“We’re just ecstatic being here in Franklin and working with the community,” he said.

Franklin native Ta-Leia Newsom, The Dispensary’s manager, said the store can service those looking for recreational marijuana and cannabis for medicinal purposes, although it is not a medicinal distributor.

“We have a staff that has worked in the medical facilities before,” she said. “I started out at Garden State Dispensary. We can still give those facts and help give guidance to people who are looking for medical benefits.”

“I still am a medical patient for migraines,” Newsom said. “I can help maybe find a strain or a different product that would be helpful for headaches. But then there are some other people who might need it for pain, and then they can relate to what products they use for pain, and any other element that people are looking for, just for peace of mind.”

“Luckily these vendors come in and they all do a lot of training on their products,” she said.

The Dispensary is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sundays.

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