Thrive Apothecary, Fort Worth's first CBD shop owned by a physician, opened in early October in the up-and-coming Foundry District without much fanfare. But based on initial customer response, "thrive" is exactly the right word for it, the owners say.
"We are approaching our one-month anniversary, and it's been amazing so far," says co-owner Trey Phillips. "We have sold through our inventory twice already in the first three weeks."
Trey and his wife, Dr. Lisa Gardner-Phillips, opened the shop to offer Fort Worth an alternative solution for health and well-being of people and pets.
Short for cannabidiol, CBD oil is a compound found in cannabis plants, aka marijuana. It's made by extracting CBD from the cannabis plant, then combining it with an oil such as coconut or hemp oil to make it easy to consume. It's low in THC, the ingredient in marijuana that gets you high, but fans are using it to treat everything from insomnia to pain management to calming their pets. In June, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved CBD as a treatment for two forms of epilepsy — making it the first marijuana-derived product to be approved at the federal level.
While other CBD shops have cropped up throughout Dallas-Fort Worth, Trey Phillips says theirs is different because Lisa brings to it her medical background and expertise.
"Lisa has taken care of patients for over 15 years. She specializes in anti-aging, hormone replacement, and high-end aesthetics," he says. "What she saw as a common denominator for both young and old, men and women, was that out of the thousands of patients she treats, almost everyone has some form of anxiety, depression, chronic pain, or chronic health issue that they struggle with.
"Lisa does not believe that prescription pills are a one-size-fits-all solution. She felt there had to be another solution or step before just taking taking prescription pills for the rest of your life. Thrive Apothecary was that solution."
Her husband was no stranger to the medical arena, although he took a roundabout path there. After retiring from the Fort Worth Police Department after nearly 20 years — including stints as a supervisor in SWAT, Gang Unit, and Recruit Training — he took over operations of her medical practice, Fusion Medical Aesthetics, which also is in the Foundry District. He provided the structure and plan to transition from a traditional medical office to a very specialized high-end boutique practice, he says.
Thrive Apothecary opened just three months after they dreamed up the idea.
They officially describe it as "a holistic lifestyle store dedicated to bringing wellness to the world through ultra concentrated hemp oil derived from all-natural, high-quality industrial hemp." They sell a full line of CBD-enriched edibles, wellness serums, hair-skin-body lines, and a full pet health line of products. There's even CBD-infused coffee.
"We have vetted 16 different manufacturers for quality, and they have provided 65 different CBD-infused products for sale in our store," Trey says.
So far, their top sellers are oils, skin and hair care, gummies, chocolate, and pet treats — all infused with low- to high-milligram doses of CBD.
In December, they'll begin monthly events to educate people on CBD. And they have plans to expand Thrive Apothecary to other markets, as well as explore opportunities in the production side of industrial hemp, he says.
But for now, they are reveling in the early success of their unique shop and feeling grateful to Fort Worth for embracing something new.
"It has humbled us and brought enormous satisfaction that we are changing people's lives for the better," Trey Phillips says. "If you visit one of our social media sites, you will see screenshots from patients who say their pain is gone, their anxiety is gone, their children are better, their elderly parents are more mobile, and so on and so on. We've had this giant wave of positive response, and we've only been open three weeks."
Thrive Apothecary is at 212 Carroll Street, Suite 120. It is open 10 am-6 pm Monday-Friday, and 10 am-4 pm Saturday and Sunday.
Dr. Lisa Gardner-Phillips opened Thrive Apothecary with her husband, Trey.
