College town, former bowling alley inspires dispensary name
By Patrick Wagner
CORVALLIS, Ore. — Sometimes there’s an advantage for those who show up fashionably late to the party. Dan Cochrane and Brad Moss, owners of Beaver Bowls, definitely took their time learning the cannabis trade before opening their dispensary and recreational store in Corvallis, Oregon.
“We’re picky. It takes a lot of time to find out exactly what we want,” Cochrane said.
Cochrane and Moss opened Beaver Bowls on Sept. 29, 2015, just two days before recreational sales became legal in Oregon.
“You always wish you had a little more time,” Cochrane said. “But honestly, it all came together so well, there was a lot of serendipity behind it. We had absolutely no hiccups. Everything went perfectly.”
Although still in its infancy, Moss and Cochrane have the future already mapped out for Beaver Bowls: Vertical integration, online ordering and continuing their search for high-quality vendors.
The owners transformed a 1920s home into a dispensary, complete with four points of sale, two separate sales floors — one for online orders and one for walk-ins — and a cozy waiting room.
Both owners have been medical card holders in Oregon for more than a decade. They’ve watched the Oregon market grow and have seen a multitude of ways the industry could be improved — namely in customer service and atmosphere. They went through 150 applications to find the perfect 10 employees who encompassed what they were looking for.
“The customers appreciate somebody who’s very warm, friendly, inviting — the true sense of customer service.”
Cochrane first learned the growing business from Moss back in the early 2000s while he was working as a real estate appraiser. Cochrane continued his career in real estate without letting go of his passion for cannabis for more than a decade, until he saw an opportunity with the passage of Measure 91.
“It was one of those opportunities that comes along once in a lifetime,” Cochrane said. “It’s something that I can stand behind and get very excited about.”
The two Corvallis natives took the name Beaver Bowls from a local hub of their youth.
“There were only a handful of things to do here growing up,” Cochrane explained. “There was an old bowling alley called ‘Beaver Bowl’ that maybe a few of the old timers might remember.”
It made sense for the business owners to link their dispensary to the surrounding college town atmosphere.
“We’re five blocks from Oregon State University, which is the home of the Beavers,” Cochrane said. “We’ve got 28,000 students here. It’s Beaver-mania in this town. We just thought that was representative of our sense of humor, our history and our locality.”