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Shop Review: Catalyst

With great selection and unique deals, the friendly team at Catalyst is ready to power your next adventure.

Photos by Quintessence Farms Photography

Consistently Unique Retail

With a beautiful design and fresh displays that are different at each store, the uniqueness of each Catalyst location ties into the consistent vibe and high quality experience customers find at all three locations. “We want to help destigmatize the plant by making it feel like a regular outdoors store, with Cannabis being the adventure,” said Brand Manager Joe Stolz. “We also focus on education, with wall graphics explaining cannabinoids and terpenes and knowledgeable staff to answer questions. I view my job as bigger than this store – we want to make Catalyst an elevated brand that leads the way for the industry.”

Sustainable Growth

Catalyst is leading the charge for sustainable packaging by using only recycled and reusable cardboard, which lowers the impact of buying Cannabis on the environment. They also have a reusable jar program – just make a deposit for your eighth jar (like a growler at a brewery) and when you return to fill it, there’s a discount! This small step literally saves tons of plastic waste each year.

In-House Strains & Top Shelf Selection

As a vertically integrated operation, about half of the Cannabis on Catalyst shelves comes from the in-house garden. This includes the award-winning Critical Mass, a tasty high-CBD strain, and delicious dankness in the form of high-THC strains like Rain Dance and Pancakes. The buying team curates a solid selection of edibles and concentrates, displayed in beautiful flat top cases that make gazing into the terps a visually pleasing experience. With deli-style flower selection and unique daily deals, the friendly team at Catalyst is ready to power your next adventure.

Staff Picks

By Budtender Kane Rosemann

Baked Alaska Brownie Bites
“I like that they use Cannabutter, not distillate.”

Hashade 100mg Drinks
“I enjoy having a drink without scarfing a lot of sugar.”

Critical Mass Strain
“It’s great to have an award-winning CBD strain on the shelf regularly.”

Locations:

Muldoon (Northeast Anchorage)
317 Muldoon Rd Anchorage, AK 99504
(907) 222-NUGS
8AM-Midnight Daily

Old Seward (South Anchorage)
9900 Old Seward Hwy #4, Anchorage, AK 99515
(907) 344-0668
9:30AM-Midnight Thurs-Sat | 9:30AM-10:30PM Sun-Wed

Spenard
4707 Spenard Rd, Anchorage, AK 99517
(907) 339-WEED
8AM-Midnight Daily

Photos by @stuart.consulting

About Wes Abney

Wes Abney is the founder and CEO of the Leaf Nation brand family, which began in 2010 as Northwest Leaf magazine. Recognized as the first Cannabis publication in the region, Northwest Leaf defined and developed the medical and recreational Cannabis communities in Washington with free publications focused on quality content and truthful journalism. The model’s success has led to Oregon Leaf in 2014, Alaska Leaf in 2016, Maryland Leaf in 2019, California Leaf in Spring of 2020, and Northeast Leaf in Fall of 2020. Wes’s writing and publishing background began with his college newspaper, The Ebbtide, which included a love for multimedia and creating content on many platforms. The nickname “Bearded Lorax” came after years of publishing millions of free magazines, using his voice to speak for a plant and those that benefit from it. Wes is an activist not only for Cannabis but for alternative medicine treatments, ending the drug war and freeing prisoners who have been wrongfully incarcerated for non-violent crimes. His passion for reaching people with written and spoken words led to the concept of Leaf Life Podcast in partnership with Mike Ricker, which began development in 2018 and launched in January 2019. With the combined passions of Cannabis and a love for broadcasting, the creation of Leaf Life was a natural progression for Leaf Nation as it spread roots across the United States. With over 100 shows recorded, and printing over 100,000 monthly copies, Leaf Nation has become the world’s largest Cannabis media company, while still celebrating the humble roots and truthful journalism that the model was founded upon. Beyond leading a team of 40+ passionate Cannabis creatives, Wes is the father to two beautiful daughters and two furry cats. He lives in Seattle, drinks coffee, and enjoys Cannabis daily, and hopes to eventually transition from a successful Cannabis journalist to a classic coffee shop author as the Leaf continues to grow in the coming decades. In true Lorax fashion, he enjoys hikes in the forest, communing with nature, and reminding people that “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

This article was originally published in the October 2023 issue of Alaska Leaf.

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