GROWING CONFIDENCE: Aurora’s Cullen a quick study in pot biz success

AURORA | Tim Cullen is the one who knocks.

The former Douglas County biology teacher used to spend his weekdays cleaning beakers, grading quizzes and thinking up creative ways to teach the Krebs Cycle.

Now, Cullen and his business partner, Ralph Morgan, are the heads of a burgeoning retail empire that boasts 47 employees, about 55,000 square feet of industrial space across the metro region and more than $8 million in annual revenue.

“And here ensue all the ‘Breaking Bad’ jokes,” Cullen said with a bashful laugh.

No Pollos Hermanos, here, however.

Cullen is the co-owner and CEO of Colorado Harvest Company, a medicinal and recreational marijuana firm with two stores in Denver and, soon, an outpost at the southeast corner of South Parker Road and East Yale Avenue in Aurora. The 3,000-square-foot recreational retail store is slated to open for business later this month following a handful of final city inspections.

With an undergraduate degree in biology from Colorado State University and a master’s degree in sports and exercise physiology from the University of Northern Colorado, Cullen started Colorado Harvest and its sister venture, Evergreen Apothecary, after medicinal marijuana first became legalized in Denver nearly five years ago. He began hashing out both ventures while on summer vacation following 10 years as a high school teacher.

“My intent was never to own or run retail stores because I didn’t know anything about that,” Cullen said. “My background is in botany and plant physiology, which made me really comfortable with the production side of things, but I decided to jump in with two feet and see how it goes. It’s gone quite well.”

Colorado Harvest estimated that it generated about $30 million in taxes paid on its two Denver locations last year, and the company expects to more than double in size with the opening of the Yale store, a second Aurora location being built from the ground-up at 14655 E. Arapahoe Road and a forthcoming third Denver shop.

Cullen said that he and his team spent upwards of $650,000 to revamp the vacant four-tenant strip at 11002 E. Yale Ave. — a price tag that has yielded a completely overhauled building and adjacent sidewalk.

“It was like a Casa Bonita pink stucco building with cracks all over, and it definitely needed a lot of love,” Cullen said. “But it went from a total eyesore to a really nice space.”

With an undergraduate degree in biology from Colorado State University and a master’s degree in sports and exercise physiology from the University of Northern Colorado, Cullen started Colorado Harvest and its sister venture, Evergreen Apothecary, after medicinal marijuana first became legalized in Denver nearly five years ago. He began hashing out both ventures while on summer vacation following 10 years as a high school teacher.

Apart from the physical transition to Aurora, Cullen said that there are additional benefits to setting up a retail marijuana outlet in the city. Under city codes, Aurora pot shops can stay open until 10 p.m., which is three hours later than stores in Denver. That’s a perk Cullen said he believes will bolster business and lure late-night customers into the city.

“I’m really proud of Colorado and Denver specifically for being the first city to really go for (legalization) and exercise the will of the voters,” Cullen said. “But they were understandably conservative with that 7 p.m. closing, and I anticipate they’ll change that time because there is sales tax revenue they’re missing out on as almost every municipality around them has later hours. We’re very excited to open later in Aurora and maybe encourage Denver to push their hours a bit, too.”

Featuring a refurbished 1967 Volkswagen bus in the center of the shopping area, Colorado Harvest’s Yale location is set to employ 13 full-time retail staffers, as well as three full-time glass blowers in an in-house glass making studio, which will take requests on the spot, according to Cullen. He added, however, that finding artisans willing to create mostly glass pipes for a living has proven more difficult than he anticipated.

“Glass blowers are mostly hobbyists because it’s often something people do in the garage on the weekends — it’s not like you’re hiring professional office staff,” Cullen said. “It’s been a little challenging finding people who are willing to take it on as a full-time sort of thing.”

He said that he currently has a call out on CraigsList and anticipates filling all the artistic positions from candidates based in the metro area.

The local scene is one Cullen knows well as an Aurora native and graduate of Rangeview High School. He said that scouring his hometown for available properties has proved to be a unique experience and that working within city marijuana policy has been painless.

“It’s been a walk through history looking for buildings in Aurora,” he said. “It’s been interesting to make a reappearance in the city in a totally different way.”

There were 13 recreational marijuana stores open for business in Aurora as of June 19, according to the latest count from the city’s Marijuana Enforcement Division. The city awarded a total of 23 retail licenses of the voter-approved 24 licenses to marijuana business owners last year.