Founder Ian Karl Eisenberg | Type Retail | |
 | ||
Formation September 30, 2014; 2 years ago (2014-09-30) Location Seattle, Washington, United States Products Cannabis and related glass products Revenue Over $1 million per month. | ||
Uncle Ike's Pot Shop is an establishment in Seattle, Washington, licensed by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board to sell cannabis to the public. It opened on September 30, 2014 and was the second cannabis retailer in Seattle, after Cannabis City. As of 2016 it led the state of Washington in cannabis retail sales at over $1 million per month. The proprietor is Ian Karl Eisenberg, aka "Uncle Ike". The business is both praised for being the first to inform consumers about pesticides in their product, and criticized for contributing to gentrification of the neighborhood it is located in, Seattle's Central District. When it opened, the shop was said to be "built like a fortress" with security provided by a company owned and staffed by ex-military servicemembers.
Controversy
Protests at the shop started a week after it opened in 2014.
The Seattle chapter of Black Lives Matter, under the leadership of activist Marissa Johnson, was criticized leadership for allowing anti-Semitic remarks at some 2015 rallies concerning Eisenberg's ownership.
After a Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2016 protest outside his store, Eisenberg replied through social media that he had moved into vacant property and his several businesses do not contribute to gentrification. Some protestors complained on 420 Day (April 20), 2016, that the business is located three feet (1 meter) from a church that sometimes has youth events.
In 2016, National Vanguard called Eisenberg "Seattle's Hyperaggressive Jewish Pot King" for Uncle Ike's advertising and pricing practices.