CHICAGO, April 16, 2021 – PRESS RELEASE – nuEra, a vertically integrated cannabis company wholly owned and operated in Illinois, proudly launched two new adult-use dispensaries on April 16 in Champaign and Pekin.
nuEra Champaign is located at 102 E. Green St. next to the sports bar Kams, and nuEra Pekin is located at 3249 Court St. next to Planet Fitness.
Regular operating hours for both stores are from 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Sunday through Wednesday and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Opening day events included ribbon-cutting ceremonies attended by representatives of both the Pekin and Champaign chambers of commerce. nuEra has completely renovated both of its new locations for a convenient, fun and easy retail experience. Both stores offer online pre-ordering for adults 21 and older and are technology-enabled with kiosks for quick ordering for walk-ins. Pre-orders can be made at www.nueracannabis.com.
“We are excited to bring our nuEra branded products to Champaign and Pekin, including our new line of solvent-free concentrates, which we are really excited to be introducing,” nuEra Marketing Director Jonah Rapino said. The dispensary will also have hundreds of other products available for legal-age customers. “We are preparing an amazing menu with an incredible array of products from Illinois’ best producers—flower, cartridges, edibles and more. There will be something for everyone, and our budtenders will be ready to educate and assist,” he said.
nuEra was a pioneer in the Illinois cannabis market and has been serving the Illinois medical cannabis community since 2015 with locations in Chicago, Urbana and East Peoria, where many Central Illinois residents have already been patients and customers for years.
“Due to state regulations we will only be licensed to serve adult-use customers at our new locations, but we will always remain committed to our medical patients and medical roots, which is why we will continue to support and prioritize our medical programs at our East Peoria and Urbana locations, and will continue to provide application assistance and first-time patient specials to help offset the cost of medical cards for anyone that wants to explore the medical benefits of cannabis,” nuEra CEO Bob Fitzsimmons said.
The company added 36 positions to prepare for the onset of adult-use sales at its new locations and generated several construction and other ancillary jobs for work designing the stores’ exteriors and interiors to safely accommodate customers. Customers are required to wear masks and must maintain proper social distancing while shopping in-store.
nuEra is also committed to giving back to the community in a variety of ways. Since full legalization in January 2020, nuEra has been sourcing a majority of its staff from disproportionately impacted areas (DIAs), sourcing interns and apprentices from cannabis studies programs at City Colleges of Chicago, and whenever possible partnering with minority and women-owned businesses for ancillary services. Most recently nuEra Hillcrest Cultivation donated $100,000 to Illinois Valley Community College’s cannabis production certificate program, and nuEra dispensaries have donated more than $370,000 to the state’s Social Equity Cannabis Business Development Fund, which will be used to support new social equity cannabis license holders in Illinois via low-interest loans and other programs.
