HEMP STORE CROPS UP ON DURHAM

The market for hemp is rapidly expanding, says Will Hall, owner of the Hemp
Guy on Durham St, which opened at the beginning of August.

"Hemp, a crop known for its excellent fibre, is growing on a global basis,"
Halls said. "More companies are getting involved with it, those already on
board are seeing major expansion underway into the global marketplace."

This isn't the first time Hall built a business on hemp. In 2003, he ran a
store in the Rainbow Centre but decided to shut it down to find a new location.

"Because of that history I find I have a solid customer base," said Hall.

The Stepping Stone Loan program of GEODE, a community economic development
group, helped Hall get his newly re-opened store off the ground.

"I was in one of the original peer lending circles of GEODE and I was able
to move through the loan process all the way to getting financial
assistance from initially $1,000 to finally $3,000. They were a major
support for me," he said.

Hall is a recent business graduate of CDI College in Sudbury.

"CDI was an intensive learning situation but I find it has been very useful
in starting this business."

The Hemp Guy has a wide range of products for sale, including clothing,
jewelry, toys, custom-designed tables, body lotions and some craft supplies.

"Most of the products are mixed - cotton is mixed with the hemp in the
clothing to keep down the cost. Some clothes are all hemp. They do cost
more but they last much longer (up to 10 times as long), are
water-resistant, mould-resistant and they breathes a lot better than
cotton," says Hall.

"As a historical note when Levis Jeans first made their jeans they were
able to offer a lifetime guarantee because of the high hemp content. When I
was working for a clothing store in 1997, we actually got a pair of
30-year-old Levi jeans that still had the lifetime guarantee on them. The
other benefit is that hemp is a very easy crop to grow - no herbicides or
pesticides are required so it is a green product."

The Hemp Guy is an independent store, not a franchise operation, but Hall
has plans to open another store in Timmins this fall.

"I have to firm things up for a Timmins store by doing more market research
but I expect it to be a go," he said. "I sense there is a lot of support up
there for hemp products."

He also plans to move beyond retailing and become a manufacturer of hemp
products.

"I can get the raw material, which is hemp from Romania.

The country is one of the biggest producers in the world now besides
Russia, France, China, Hong Kong, and Hungary. Canada is slowly producing
more hemp each year. Quite a bit is now grown in Ontario, near Barrie," he
said.

"We hope to making product here in Sudbury for export elsewhere. I expect
to be employing the services of a clothing designer from Fanshaw College,
probably on a placement basis first and then full-time," said Hall.

Hall will even have a line-up of hemp foods.

"You can use hemp oil for salads. It has a unique taste but it does have
great nutritional value. We will have a hemp pancake and brownie mix - they
are chock full of vitamins, fatty acids and proteins. It is not overly
expensive either."

For more information, phone 662-2497 or visit thehempguy@canada.com.