John and Matt Townsend, Owners of Altai Alternative Care – Interview Series

When it comes to East Coast cannabis markets, Massachusetts stands out as a true trendsetter, with at least a few years of extra experience over its neighbors. Since the state voted to legalize cannabis nearly a decade ago, the $1.6 billion MA market has had far more time to gather data and expertise. Yet even with the ample experience, there are still issues that persist and other questions that remain.

For a better understanding of the Massachusetts market and how family-owned business skills are transferable to the cannabis industry, mycannabis.com had the pleasure of speaking with John and Matt Townsend, Owners of Altai Alternative Care.

What subjects did you study in school, and where did you two attend? Which would you say became most useful when working at both Townsend Total Energy and eventually in the cannabis business as well?

Matt Townsend: I finished at a high school diploma. I was happy with it. I’ve done sales for a majority of my life. I think that sales are best taught in action. I don’t know how much school transitioned into my professional life. For me, it was kind of learning as I took on positions, whether here or at Townsend. 

John Townsend: I did some college, but I really had a background, a passion, for numbers and statistics. Jumping into the workforce early during the summers, getting a passion for entrepreneurship, and seeing how my father and uncle grew the business would always pique my interest. I’d always ask a ton of questions like “How did you do this?” 

The aspect that transitioned into cannabis for me was that we came from an oil and propane space, which was heavily regulated, so in cannabis, it was second nature. I like the challenge of navigating around to figure out how you work within those regulations.

While working at the family business, what were the most useful lessons and skills in effective sales and management that you learned? How did those skills later become advantageous in the cannabis industry?

Matt Townsend: In our time at the family business, we learned how to work together, and he’s my older brother. There’s always going to be times that you’re brothers and others when you’re business partners. 

We had the opportunity to watch our dad work and run Townsend, which was just priceless. He taught us a lot of things there, and it’s hard to pinpoint certain ones, but one thing that really always stuck out to me was how important your customer is to you and how to treat them. It’s a life lesson that he really instilled in us: These are the people that keep your lights on, and if you don’t treat them as such, what are you doing? We’re always going to be a customer-first business, and that’s something we can thank our dad for.

Other than that, getting us ready for the cannabis industry was just those years of working together and having to go to my brother for problems and him helping me out. It’s learning to work together, which can be a difficult thing, and we’ve done a great job so far. 

John Townsend: I watched my father grow the company from when we were young kids. I remember not seeing him because he was out doing the manual labor — we’d sometimes never see him come home at night, or sometimes later, always reeking of oil — but I remember that fondly. The way he would interact with the employees and the way he’d interact with customers left a mark. 

I remember watching my grandmother, his mother, who worked at the business till she was 95. She would sit in the office and open handwritten notes from some of the elderly customers. I remember her getting one note from one customer out of 20,000 customers, and it was like the press stopped for the day. She was like, “We have a problem, they’re upset,” and it instilled in us the customer service aspect for both our employees and customers: how you treat people fairly and what the expectation should be of us. Getting to see that with our own eyes was such a valuable lesson that, maybe I didn’t realize at the time, but as I got older, I was like, “That was worth its weight in gold.”

After working in the family business for so long, what caught your professional attention about entering the cannabis industry? Were there any concerns among yourselves or your family members about joining an industry that is young and federally illegal?

Matt Townsend: Explaining to some family members that you’ve opened a dispensary is always a fun endeavor. It’s great! Some of the answers are fantastic! When we knew that chapter was over with Townsend, I pivoted to something I’d always loved, and people always say that if you do what you love, it makes it feel a little bit less like work. It doesn’t feel that way sometimes in this industry, but this was always a passion of mine since I was younger. I wanted to own a dispensary when I was 17, 18, and when the opportunity came, we saw it as an opportunity to still work together after the family business. It just seemed like a no-brainer. 

John Townsend: Generationally speaking, we’re always going to have differences. Most of the time, when we get those answers back from family, it’s just, you smile. They’re valid questions, but we know that cannabis is not new to us, and if anything, that negative generational bias toward cannabis gets less and less every day. I think our customer base can dictate that. You have customers who are 21 years old and you have customers who are 80 years old. It just feels like, day by day, that stigma is becoming less and less of a thing.

Why did you decide to name the business Altai Alternative Care? What is the significance of the dispensary’s name?

Matt Townsend: It’s a fun time when you’re trying to name a business and you’re like, “We have to figure something out here.” Quite honestly, I typed in “cannabis history” and wanted to find something that was fitting to the history of cannabis. When we looked up Altai, it was the Altai Mountain Range, which is in Mongolia and Russia, and we looked back and it was among the oldest finds of cannabis use, and it was used for ritual burials, and to me, that was amazing. It was like, “We’re going to take that and build up our own cannabis store using the name,” and it just made sense. 

John Townsend: When Matt called me and told me, “Altai,” I had no idea what the Altai Mountain Range was at the time. Then, he gave me the rationale, and I was like, “That’s so fitting to what we’re trying to get across,” because the transparency that we try to come across with at our dispensary is exactly fitting for the name, the rich history of it and finding out that this is one of the starts of cannabis, the first-written uses. It fits very well to what we’re trying to accomplish here. 

Matt Townsend: It also fits well with the area. We’re in a summit area. When you look right out front of the store, you can see a giant—

John Townsend: It’s a 500-foot hill. They call it a mountain— 

Matt Townsend: So it seemed fitting to name it after a mountain range.

John Townsend: A customer came in — this was an hour ago, two hours ago — and was like, “Every time I come to your store, I love when I exit that I see the mountain.” 

What have been some of the most notable accomplishments and accolades that Altai has received since it’s been open? What are some of the best ways that the business has evolved?

John Townsend: The best accolade we’ve received thus far, to me, was a Google review that stated, “I haven’t felt this comfortable, or in a setting like this, since the Pacific Northwest originally opened up cannabis.” I was like, “We’ve brought originality back.” I don’t know if that’s been around.

I’ve loved all the reviews, but that one in particular was long-winded, so I was like, “That person took a lot of time to state exactly the feeling they had when they walked in the dispensary.” That, to me, was special. 

Matt Townsend: We’re a small business, and we’ve organically grown 76 five-star perfect reviews to date. They’re from customers who have shopped here and really enjoyed what we have to offer. Our staff is fantastic, and that’s a big part of it. From a budtending perspective, I think there’s a lot of passion and education for anyone that’s willing to ask. 

It’s hard to pick an accolade, because every day here, we see the growth of the business from October 14, 2025 to today. It’s been amazing, but it is nice to currently have a perfect Google score and have not paid for a single one. 

What is so special about the region of Massachusetts that Altai is located in? Why is it a prime location for a dispensary?

John Townsend: Because we’re from the eastern (EML ) part of the state — more of a city — I love how friendly and welcoming to everyone this part of the state is. I never came out to Western Mass that much in my life, but out here, there’s a much greater sense of community, which is really special. That’s an issue everywhere, the loss of community, but it feels like, out here, you still have that sense of community. People care for one another. People reach out to one another.

Our customer base is demonstrating that to us every day by coming in and talking. Most times, it’s not just a transaction, it’s an interaction. That, I think, is special, and it’s unique to this part of the state. 

Matt Townsend: We’re in the condensed part of Sunderland where a lot of the shops are. We have our certain pizza place that we go to — Frontier Pizza, they’re a fantastic family and they’ve been great to us so far — and when I go in there, the owner says, “How’s it going? We’re pulling for you.” There’s a big sense of community here. It’s old-school, and it’s really nice, and it’s just beautiful scenery as well. 

John Townsend: I want to shout out the town of Sunderland because the people have been excellent. Just a small-town feel, asking very personalized questions, not generic questions. They are really rooting for us. That’s a good feeling when you’re in a town. I think that, sometimes, again, generationally, not everyone’s for your business. We have not had that feeling here at all.

Matt Townsend: Any time we go to another business that doesn’t know us, they see the Altai shirt I’m wearing and they’re like, “We really want you guys to do well.” It’s like, “You didn’t have to say that.” It means a lot.

John Townsend: The corner store too. They ask every single time, “How’s business?” It’s a great feeling.

Based on your experience as a cannabis business owner in the state, what are some strengths and advantages the Massachusetts cannabis industry has over neighboring state markets?

Matt Townsend: Massachusetts has done a great job trying to learn on the fly about what happened in other states. We see the price per gram in Michigan right now at just a disgusting number. With the license caps that we’ve currently run in Massachusetts, it’s been helpful to keep our industry healthier here.

There are a lot of new things that still haven’t gotten here, like social consumption and delivery, and other license types that are exciting and still to come. We’re certainly not over yet in the Massachusetts market, on the evolution of it, and I think we’re still learning as we go.

Simultaneously, what are the most widespread issues within the Massachusetts cannabis industry? How are you ensuring that Altai either avoids or minimizes those widespread issues?

Matt Townsend: There are certain things you can avoid and certain things you can’t. A lot of the issues currently within the industry are being talked about right now by the CCC [Massachusetts Cannabis Control Commission]. It’s making things a little bit more streamlined for us. 

There are certain things I think the CCC has done a fantastic job on, whether that’s things like abolishing the two-driver rule — that has brought down costs for people — or the new badging requirements. We’re still a new industry, and I think some people forget that we’re learning on the fly. 

There’s been some oversaturation. There’s been some competition issues of people getting to choose their own pricing and running with it depending on how you feel and how comfortable you are with your margins. It’s still very much a learning opportunity for everyone in this industry no matter if you’ve been in it since 2017 or today, because it’s forever changing from a regulatory standpoint. 

John Townsend: With the marketing regulations, it’s just difficult to be seen. It’s difficult for a new business. Traditionally, being able to market any business a certain way, we don’t have access to that. So, day by day, it’s more rewarding when you’re organically growing your business knowing that you’re somewhat handicapped, but that’s something I wish they would take a look at regulatory-wise. 

Matt Townsend: The difficulty with 280E and not being able to claim certain deductions in our taxes is not helpful. We are a legal business within the state of Massachusetts. I’d love to see rescheduling happen and benefit these businesses that have put their time, work, blood, sweat, and tears into the cannabis industry here. We should be able to write off our payroll and claim deductions that a normal business does. We’re a community store, and it should be treated that way from a tax perspective.

What have been some of the best and most effective strategies that Altai has used to build customer loyalty and repeat business for the store?

Matt Townsend: I would say we’re in an industry where discounts and things like that are almost the norm, so I think that incentivizes customers to learn about our loyalty program. We think we have a great loyalty program. Some stores are just doing accessories and merchandise when people are here to buy cannabis. That’s why people are coming in. 

Our loyalty is for anything that’s on our menu. You get 5% back on all your purchases in store credit. I think that it’s about educating people about the loyalty program as well as just giving a consistent experience. If you want customers to come back, they don’t owe you anything, so you better give them a reason to come back. It’s about keeping a competitive menu. It’s about educating, being polite, and being a good budtender. There are a lot of moving parts to it, and I think that if you can capture them and put in a lot of effort that’s shown to your customers, you can have repeat customers. 

What are some predictions you have for the Massachusetts industry, and how do you see the state industry changing in the upcoming years?

Matt Townsend: It’s a difficult question because of what we’re seeing right now from a regulatory perspective. There was just a meeting last week about licensing freezes for cultivation. It’s almost like a “choose your own quest” answer. 

It really depends on how regulations are pushed forward and what we see come into the pipeline for changes. To give credit, we’ve seen a lot of changes recently that have brought down cost, but we need to see more things like that, because it’s no secret that this industry — I mean, we’ve had some closures in Massachusetts. The strength of the market isn’t what it once was, and I think that there needs to be some assistance there. 

I’m not going to project what the industry is going to look like because there are too many variables to do so, but I will say that I have a positive outlook. We wouldn’t have gotten into the industry if we didn’t. It’s up to the regulators and how things are pushed forward. 

John Townsend: As new of an industry as this is, at the same time, with the years of data and looking into businesses, it’s time to take a hard look at what these businesses are doing tax-wise and everything. We should look at the regulations first written and say, “Where can we potentially assist these businesses?” rather than just continuing to overregulate.

Thank you for joining us, Matt and John!