X
Leaf Nation Logo

Shop Review: Top Shelf Wellness Center

Our palate and nose were teased by the Modified Grapes – a 31.5% THC heater with a gluey, gassy-sweet finish.

Photos by Tony Simonelli

Design In Mind

With a beautiful store design and a logo featuring an airplane with a pot leaf propeller, it’s clear that you will leave Top Shelf Wellness Center flying high! We visited the Medford location – the smallest of their three shops – but a staff favorite due to its homey and cozy, chill vibes. The owner, Wade Hall, built the location using his prior life experience as a master carpenter to bring his vision to life of a comfortable, customer-service oriented shopping experience. Each person that comes through the door is greeted by a team member to guide them through the process – and with four registers, there’s time to chat with a friendly budtender or get in and out quickly. 

Growing In House

Top Shelf Wellness is a vertically-integrated operation, meaning that they grow a portion of their own Cannabis in off-site greenhouses that have supplemental lighting to produce year round. The result is 30+ strains of absolute terpy fire for $9.60 a gram after tax, or $168 an ounce. We smelled the Gummiez – a 31.82% THC gas house with bright and sweet, syrupy green-apple flavors. The Sex Panther comes in at 30.99% THC with a creamy, gassy front and apple-pepper finish. Our palate and nose were teased by the Modified Grapes – a 31.5% THC heater that reeked of sour and funky fermenting grapes with a gluey, gassy-sweet finish. The store goal is to have 40-50 in-house strains priced right, out of a total selection of 100 options in the flower department. So if you love smoking flower, this is the shop to stock up at!

Selection Is Everything

Top Shelf Wellness has a huge selection with nearly 1,000 products for customers to be dazzled with. “We have everything for the budget-minded customer to the connoisseur, and our in-house premium affordable Cannabis, to have everything for everybody,” said owner Wade Hall. He began as a medical grower providing RSO to patients, which is still a core value to the team today. It’s these values of customer service and Cannabis as medicine that have built such a diverse product offering – and while having nearly 1,000 products to choose from might sound overwhelming – with a helpful and knowledgeable staff happy to show products and answer questions, the selection represents a promise to patients and rec consumers alike that they’ll find what they need at the right price, every time they visit.

Staff Picks

Prestyn Rolland, District Manager

Entourage Infused Pre-Rolls
They’re a little spendy, but they hit really well – effects are out of this world and they’re consistent and don’t run.

Altered Alchemy
They have some of the best flavored dabs for only $14 a gram, and their flavors are wonderful!

Bucket Slabs
Unique dabs come with two grams of crumble or sauce and a custom dab tool – all in a cool little bag!

James Dotson, GM at White City Location 

Kalya
Their rosin is such fresh fire – they have fresh-pressed live rosin too. The flavor and highs are very uplifting and put a pep in my step.

Grom Pearl Gummies
The 3-1 Pearls have 300mg of CBG and 100mg THC, which is such a good high for enhancing the mood and having fun!

Photos by @simonellitony

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 November 2023 issue of Oregon Leaf.

View our archive on issuu.

Are you 21 or older? This website requires you to be 21 years of age or older. Please verify your age to view the content, or click "Exit" to leave.