Certified Cultivators, Ohio’s largest seller of adult-use cannabis, is expanding into the Cincinnati market.
The new brick-and-mortar location was once home to a former Frisch’s in Cherry Grove. The goal is to open in the spring.
It’s the latest step in Zach Weprin’s marijuana empire, which sprung form a more humble beginning.
“This whole thing started with me and my dad smoking a joint and saying, ‘Why not us?'” he said. “Like, when (Governor John) Kasich signed the medical law in fall of 2017, we said, ‘Why can’t we be awarded these licenses? Why anybody else?'”
Weprin, a Dayton native, is probably best known in the Queen City for starting the Cincinnati sushi chain Fusian in 2010.
After living in Cincinnati for a number of years while successfully launching that business, he returned to his native city to found Certified Cultivators. It’s now grown large enough that their main facility sports 40,000 square feet of indoor growing space for their cannabis products, all of which are sold under a sub-label simply titled Certified.
That facility cost over $50 million to build, and was constructed by Jake Warm and the team at Warm Construction, a Cincinnati-based construction firm that’s taken on some of the region’s biggest projects — like the recent half-a-billion-dollar renovations to Paycor Stadium. Warm, the fourth-generation owner of the business, has built every one of Certified’s facilities across the Ohio area thanks to a family connection.
“I had a fun conversation about it with Zach’s dad, Mike. Negotiated our fee and been on board since day one. All of Certified’s cultivation, processing, retail,” Warm said. “When it comes to (retail locations), we just gut the interior and start from scratch. But at the same time, we salvage what makes the building unique.”
At this location, which Weprin acquired with the help of Vice President Senior Broker at Colliers Josh Rothstein, that means the distinctive windows and sign cabinets from the Frisch’s Big Boy location remain intact — “we all love and appreciate the Big Boy and Cincinnati’s Big Boy roots, so that had to stick around,” Weprin said.
This will be the sixth Certified dispensary in the state of Ohio, almost all of which are inside former fast food restaurants. For Weprin, his love of cannabis comes from a more personal place than most.
“I was diagnosed with Crohn’s when I was 12, and cannabis has helped me significantly deal with the mental and physical sides of it for a long time now. We’re very outspoken about the positive effects of cannabis, and how many of us actually use it, and having great access to clean, healthy, product,” he said. “Actually, our product gets tested six, seven times throughout the life cycle of the product hitting shelves. Putting out safe and clean cannabis has been a goal of ours from the beginning.”
Amidst Ohio’s ongoing saga to ban THC and hemp-derived products, Weprin referred to the situation as “a lot of noise” from lawmakers.
“When I’d talk to my GI doctor about my Crohn’s, they’d guide me through the process of trying this medicine and that medicine and figuring out if I need a higher or lower dose. It’s the same thing with cannabis,” he said. “Or even, y’know, as a mature adult, I know how much one glass of whiskey affects me versus drinking five or six. As an educated person, I should be able to handle myself and know if I want to drink one or five. And people should consume cannabis the same way.”
At the new location, Certified will sell just about everything weed-related you can think of; flower, vapes, gummies, drinks, Rick Simpson oil and more. The brand’s products are already available at every dispensary in the state, but here, customers can go straight to the source.
“I’m Ohio born and bred, but Cincinnati is a special place for me. I’ve got a lot of friends here. I’m down here all the time. So it’s fun and exciting to have a business down here again,” he said. “And the cannabis community is still evolving … It’s no different than wine, or whiskey, or whatever. Beer guys love beer. Sushi guys love sushi. They build community around that. We want to be a positive part of its growth, and we’re very grateful to be able to do it.”
The new Certified dispensary will open at 559 State Route 125 in Cherry Grove in spring 2027.
