Matthew Brewer, Chuck Brewer, and Dianne Brewer have founded Grasshopper Club, Chicago’s first independent, Black-owned cannabis store, according to ABC 7 Chicago.
The dispensary is in Logan Square, in the 2500 block of North Milwaukee Avenue.
“We don’t have a relationship or get support or have an arrangement with one of the large, publicly-owned cannabis companies,” Matthew told the outlet.
In addition to the family operating as owners of Grasshopper Club, they disclosed that there are “minor silent investors.”
Chuck was arrested for marijuana possession on many charges as a child, prompting the establishment of the Grasshopper Club.
“For me to be doing this legally with my brother and my mother, it’s priceless,” Chuck emphasized to the news outlet.
The 74-year-old mother is set to handle the financial end of the dispensary.
“I’m working on the accounting aspects of this business,” Dianne said. “I’m totally excited. I retired 12 years ago, and here I am working again.”
Matthew became interested in the cannabis sector in 2014, which inspired him to create his own firm.
He and his family were able to acquire a license to open after cannabis became legal in Chicago in 2020. Suddenly the Grasshopper Club began to emerge.
“It was this opportunity for wealth creation, generational for my mother and my brother,” Matthew said, according to Block Club Chicago. “This isn’t like banking or engineering where the experts have been doing it for decades and have all of this experience under their belt. This is an industry where people haven’t been doing it a lot longer than you have, so there’s a chance to get in early.”