From Hemp to Cannabis: The Story of CannaJoyMN
From a small hemp shop and seed bank to a licensed Minnesota cannabis business, CannaJoyMN has always been about one thing: creating more joy around this plant and the people who grow it.
If you've visited CannaJoyMN, you may know us as the little Mom & Pop shop on Chicago Avenue in South Minneapolis.
You may know us for cannabis seeds, Minnesota-made hemp products, home-growing advice, or our community events.
Or maybe you're just discovering us.
Either way, we thought it was time to tell the story of how we got here.
It Started with Two People Who Like Building Things Together
CannaJoyMN is owned and operated by Erin and Bob Walloch.
We met more than 20 years ago while working together in Minneapolis. Erin was studying education at St. Catherine University, while Bob was working and attending the University of Minnesota before eventually completing a math degree at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Over the years, we worked together on all kinds of things—from careers and home projects to woodworking, art, gardening and eventually business. We've always joked that we're better together. That philosophy eventually became the foundation for CannaJoyMN.
Bob has always been a gardener. Growing things, working with plants and getting his hands in the soil have been passions for years. Eventually, that passion led him into home growing cannabis.
And home growing changed the way we looked at the plant. It wasn't just about cannabis. It was about genetics, growing, learning, experimenting, harvesting and sharing the experience with other people.
When Minnesota began moving toward cannabis legalization and home growing, we saw an opportunity. We wanted to create the kind of place we wished existed for Minnesota growers.
Starting With Seeds and Hemp
In January 2023, we started CannaJoyMN.
At the time, Minnesota's legal cannabis market looked very different from what it does today. Licensed adult-use cannabis retail wasn't yet widely available, so we started with what we could legally provide: premium cannabis seeds and Minnesota-made hemp products.
The seed business was especially personal to Bob.
Buying cannabis seeds online can feel like a gamble. Who are you buying from? Are the genetics what they say they are? Will the seeds actually arrive? What happens if you have questions?
We thought Minnesota home growers deserved something different.
A real store.
Real people.
Real conversations.
And a place where you could actually look at genetics, ask questions and talk to someone who grows.
That's how our little seed shop became a community.
Then Minnesota Cannabis Changed
As Minnesota's adult-use cannabis market developed, so did CannaJoyMN.
We continued supporting home growers while working toward something bigger: becoming a licensed cannabis business ourselves.
That process has taken patience, persistence and a whole lot of figuring things out.
Cannabis is a highly regulated industry, and moving from hemp retail into licensed cannabis isn't as simple as changing the sign on the door.
There are licenses, regulations, tracking, security, cultivation requirements, retail requirements and an entirely new operational world to learn.
But we've never been afraid of learning something new.
Everything is figure-out-able.
So, we kept going.
Today, CannaJoyMN is a licensed Minnesota cannabis microbusiness, bringing together cultivation and retail under one small, locally owned business.
And we're still just getting started.
Why "CannaJoyMN"?
The name actually says a lot about what we believe.
We don't think cannabis should have to be intimidating.
It shouldn't be something people feel embarrassed to ask questions about.
And it shouldn't be only about getting high.
For us, cannabis connects to gardening, creativity, community, entrepreneurship, science, genetics and the simple joy of growing something yourself.
That's why our mission has always been about meeting people where they are on their weed and seed journey.
Maybe you're an experienced grower looking for a particular seed strain.
Maybe you've never grown a plant before.
Maybe you're visiting a dispensary for the first time.
Maybe you're interested in Minnesota cannabis and want to learn what's happening here.
Wherever you are, we're happy to meet you there.
A Cannabis Shop Built Around Community
One of the things we're proudest of isn't actually something we sell.
It's the community that's developed around CannaJoyMN.
We've hosted home-grow gatherings, educational classes, breeder events, puff & paints, yoga & sound bath events and opportunities for people to simply come together and talk about cannabis and growing.
Our Home Grow Get Together became a regular gathering place for Minnesota growers, giving people an opportunity to share what they're learning, ask questions and meet other people who love growing.
That's important to us because cannabis culture has historically existed in the shadows.
For decades, people who grew cannabis had to do it quietly.
Breeders couldn't openly talk about their work.
Growers couldn't easily share what they were learning.
People had questions but didn't always have someone they could safely ask.
We want to help change that.
Grow together. Learn together. Build something better together.
That's community to us. It brings us so much joy.
Supporting Minnesota Businesses
We're also proud to be part of Minnesota's small-business cannabis ecosystem.
From the beginning, we've tried to support Minnesota breeders, farmers, makers and entrepreneurs.
When you shop at CannaJoyMN, you're not just supporting us. You're helping support the network of people who grow, create, manufacture and build businesses right here in Minnesota.
That's one reason we care so much about carrying products and genetics that have a story behind them.
We want to know where things come from.
We want to know who made them.
And we want to be able to tell you about them.
Come Visit Us
You'll find CannaJoyMN at:
4753 Chicago Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55407
We're in South Minneapolis, conveniently located for people coming from around the Twin Cities and just a 10-minute drive from Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. We are 10 minutes from downtown and 10 minutes from the Minnehaha Falls.
We're open seven days a week, and you can shop with us in-person or use our online pre-ordering option for seeds and cannabis products.
