UNION TOWNSHIP — A shuttered Frisch’s Big Boy restaurant on State Route 125 in Union Township is being eyed for a second act: a dual-use cannabis dispensary operated by Certified Cultivators. The Ohio Division of Cannabis Control has issued an active provisional dual-use dispensary license for the site at 559 State Route 125 in Clermont County.
“Dual-use” means the store would eventually serve both medical marijuana patients and adults cleared to buy recreational marijuana under Ohio law. The provisional license does not authorize sales yet — the company must finish the remaining state licensing steps and receive a certificate of operation before opening its doors. The target is spring 2027.
The Frisch’s location closed in late 2024 amid the wave of closures tied to landlord eviction actions against the restaurant chain. Certified Cultivators president Zach Weprin joked about the company’s pattern: “We’re just really big into Big Boys.” The company already operates a dispensary in a former Frisch’s in Columbus and is planning another at a former Frisch’s in Dayton.
Weprin said the fast-food sites were picked for their “great access,” including already-established drive-thru lanes — a natural fit for dispensary pickup traffic.
Certified Cultivators already runs a cannabis cultivation facility at 1654 Springfield St. in Dayton, so the Union Township store would extend the company’s footprint across southwest Ohio. The dispensary still has state hurdles to clear before the spring opening, but the provisional license is the key first step.