BUFFALO, N.Y. -- It's closing in on six months since Dank became the first dispensary in Western New York to cut the ribbon and open its doors.

That's not the only landmark coming up.

"We're about to hit $5 million in gross sales right now," owner Aaron Van Camp said. "It's nothing like I ever expected. I expected to do half that."

Van Camp said he is grateful for the support he has received from the Buffalo community since opening but it is a little bittersweet.

"Being here with (fellow licensee) Glen (Miller), it hurts because we worked hand in hand," he said. "My girlfriend, his girlfriend put in more work than anyone we knew toward this problem and they were basically a few weeks a way from opening when the injunction hit," he said.

Van Camp said he and most of the other Conditional Adult Use Retail Dispensary (CAURD) licensees had all been working together but he was able to open before a court order froze the industry for most of the rest of 2023. Miller was putting up the sign Friday for East Leaf Dispensary on Clinton Street in Cheektowaga and hopes to open this month.

"We were happy when Aaron opened. It's been hard on me and my wife, Gina, but we're plugging away and if all goes well we'll be open in the next two or three weeks," Miller said.

He said while it has been difficult to wait so long to finally open, he is encouraged the market has been so lucrative for Dank.

"We're excited because we think we can produce like Aaron. We just need to get open and we'll find out in the next couple weeks what we'll be able to give to our community but we think we have it under control," Miller said.

Van Camp said everybody helped him so he is trying to return the favor to other shops like Premier Earth, which recently opened on Hertel Ave in North Buffalo and Puffalo Dreams on Niagara Falls Boulevard in Amherst which is nearly open too. He said he is there for advice on products that sell, marketing, state regulations, and anything else.

"I've done tremendously well from this. Me and my family never expected the reception we were going to get and I would like to give back and make sure that everyone's right and everyone in the program is doing as well as they possibly can," he said.

Van Camp said he's been able to share his success with his employees too, noting he has been able to pay most of his staff between $23 and $30 an hour.