When Sean Smith and Nathan Simpson teamed up to open Canna Corner in New Florence in November, they set a mission to help out the Montgomery County community.

“We’re big on donating money back to the community, like in the schools,” Simpson said. “We pay off school lunches. We donate to local school pantries. We love to give back. We would like to get enough traffic here so we can do that.”

Located at 469 Booneslick Road, Canna Corner sells all kinds of cannabis products, such as flower, pre-rolls and vape pens. It also sells water pipes that have characters such as Sonic The Hedgehog and SpongeBob Squarepants. All of the products are lab-tested and sourced directly from growers and manufacturers.

Simpson said the gummies have been the most popular items since the shop opened a month ago. It has different kinds such as green apple, pineapple mango and pink lemonade and range from five to 1,000 milligrams.

“Everybody loves the gummies,” Simpson said. 

Both Simpson and Smith are from Warren County. They also own another cannabis shop in Bowling Green called Bowl Of Green. Smith is the sole owner of a cannabis shop in Warrenton and Simpson owns another Canna Corner shop in Wright City. 

Simpson and Smith have known each other since 2009, when they first met at a Gold’s Gym.

“I had a store in Rolla and Sean moved back from Los Angeles,” Simpson said. “He said, ‘I want to open one of these, too.’ Here we are. Sean got his own store in Warrenton, I have since sold that location in Rolla and have Wright City’s location and Sean and I are partners in this location and Bowling Green.”

Several months ago, the co-owners found a small building that is located on the same road as other businesses such as Grow2Gather and Wood Hat Spirits.

“Before us, there was a barbecue joint and a boutique years ago,” Smith said. “We just liked the location and finally got in touch with the lady who owned the building. She was really easy to work with.”

Employee Jacob Molinari, who lives in New Florence, said by having the new store in town, customers don’t have to drive to towns such as Warrenton, Mexico or Columbia to buy cannabis products.

“I probably get 9 out of 10 people who come in and say, ‘I’m glad you guys are open now because I don’t have to go to Warrenton anymore.’ They say it all of the time,” Molinari said. “They love having just being 10 minutes away instead of having to go 25 or 30 minutes down the road over to Warrenton. People love it.”

The store is open from 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. on Sundays.

“We’re open 12 hours a day, so it’s accessible for people working several different jobs,” Smith said.