DEBUTING IN SACRAMENTO, THE WAL-MART OF WEED

The Wal-Mart of Weed Is Coming to Sacramento.

At least that's the moniker embraced by weGrow, a cavernous
hydroponics store enthusiastically marketing itself as a retail
outlet for people cultivating marijuana for personal medicinal use.

The 10,000-square-foot weGrow store, which opens Saturday at 1537
Fulton Ave., is the first national franchise for a company that bills
itself as a supply and training destination for legal pot growers.

The enterprise, started in Oakland last year as a warehouse store
called iGrow, and doesn't sell any marijuana.

Yet the gardening emporium attracted national attention for its
unbridled embrace of the marijuana culture. It featured an on-site
doctor offering medical pot recommendations and sales staff eagerly
pitching grow lights and nutrients while teaching people how to raise
bountiful cannabis buds.

The Oakland location is being reorganized as a non-retail
distribution hub for a network of retail hydroponics outlets. The
Sacramento store billed as "the first honest hydro store" is to be
followed by weGrow stores in Arizona, Colorado, New Jersey and Oregon
in coming months.

"I just thought it was a statement to have something close to the
state Capitol," said Dhar Mann, who founded the original iGrow in
January 2010. "It's a statement of how progressive the industry has
become. We're all about coming out of the shadows."

With California, 14 other states and the District of Columbia
legalizing marijuana for medical use, the hydroponics industry is
exploding. But, unlike weGrow, most hydroponics outlets avoid any
mention of marijuana, billing themselves only as generic suppliers
for people growing anything from peppers to rosemary.

Hydroponics stores traditionally are leery of any mention of
marijuana because pot cultivation remains illegal under federal law.

The 'm' word is also avoided by some growing equipment and nutrient
suppliers that either operate in states where medical marijuana is
illegal or don't want to offend organic farmers or other customers
growing nonmedicinal products.

"We're very strict. We don't sell equipment for the purpose of
growing marijuana," said Chris Corsello, manager of J Street
HydroGarden in midtown Sacramento. He said if anyone asks for tips on
growing pot, "We say, 'Sorry, we can't tell you anything.' "

Michael Garcia, operator of the Sacramento weGrow franchise, said
employees will talk about marijuana once customers show proof of a
physician's recommendation for medical use. "If you do not have a
script, we're not willing to discuss cannabis with you," he said.

For those who do, weGrow will offer on-site classes in marijuana
cultivation. It also promotes its online "University of Cannabis."

On Saturday, the store will celebrate its place in the medicinal pot
industry with a noon to 4 p.m. expo featuring medical marijuana
suppliers and support businesses.

"We want to bring awareness to this community," Garcia said. "It's
already there. We're just bringing it to the forefront."