Flower City Dispensary is a family-owned CAURD shop in Victor Hills Commons, 8053 Pittsford-Victor Road, between Target and U-Haul beside Eastview Mall. It soft-opened on November 21, 2024 and held its grand opening on December 13, 2024, under license OCM-CAURD-24-000218. The shop describes itself as Asian woman- and family-owned, and its "legacy to legal" story is the reason it exists.
The Tantalos' two-year wait
Owners Britni and Jayson Tantalo are longtime Rochester residents with a long run in the grow business. According to the Rochester Business Journal, Jayson spent two decades in horticulture and hydroponics, and the couple launched an equipment wholesaler, Metavega Corp., in 2014, then opened Flower City Hydroponics in Fairport in 2021. Britni holds a finance degree from RIT and an MBA from St. John Fisher and worked as a tax accountant at Ernst & Young.
The couple applied for a CAURD license when the program opened in 2022; the RBJ reported that a minor cannabis offense from Britni's late teens made her eligible for the program. The approval took more than two years. At the grand opening, Jayson told 13WHAM that the requirement to show two consecutive years of profitable business experience made the license very hard to get. The pair also co-founded the New York Cannabis Retail Association to push for an equitable industry, and the shop's website links coverage from High Times, the Times Union and the New York Post about their path.
What "legacy to legal" means here
In New York, "legacy" usually refers to people who were part of the cannabis world before legalization, often with the criminal records that came with it. The state's Cannabis Seeding Opportunity Initiative created the CAURD license to put some of those people at the front of the line, and the RBJ identified Britni Tantalo as eligible on that basis. The program's early years were rocky: lawsuits paused new openings in 2023, and many CAURD holders waited far longer than expected for approved locations and funding. A July 2024 WXXI story, linked from the shop's own site, framed a two-year wait for a dispensary green light as a symbol of New York's flawed cannabis rollout. Their eventual storefront, in a suburban shopping plaza rather than a city block, shows how far some licensees traveled to find a workable site.
Advocates as well as retailers
The Tantalos have been public voices for CAURD licensees. Beyond co-founding the New York Cannabis Retail Association, they appear in coverage the shop links on its site, including a Syracuse.com piece on the CAURD coalition, a Leafly story on dispensary owners collaborating, and a New York Post report on licensed sellers' support for keeping the 1,000-foot buffer zone between stores. For shoppers, that history signals owners who intend to stay in the market for the long haul.
Right off Thruway Exit 45
Location is Flower City's practical advantage. The shop sits on Route 96 just off I-90 (New York State Thruway) Exit 45, about 15 minutes from Rochester, according to its website. That puts it next to one of the region's biggest retail hubs: Eastview Mall, plus nearby Target, Best Buy and a Regal cinema, and the New York Beer Project is down the road. For drivers on the Thruway or anyone already running errands at the mall, it is an easy stop with parking right outside.
Ordering, delivery and rewards
You can shop in store, pre-order for pickup, or use the shop's mobile app, which includes a rewards program. The website also advertises delivery. Hours on the site are Monday-Saturday 9 a.m.-9 p.m. and Sunday noon-6 p.m. (the state record lists 10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, so confirm by calling (585) 559-2837 if you are cutting it close).
What the menu emphasizes
Flower City says it carries premium New York-grown flower, pre-rolls, edibles, vapes, concentrates and accessories, chosen for consistency. The one brand it writes about at length is Ayrloom, highlighting the brand's 300 mg Fast Acting Infusion Drops, an unflavored beverage enhancer you dose by the drop. If drinkable cannabis is new to you, our explainer on THC drinks covers onset and dosing, and our microdosing guide is a sensible companion.
The hydroponics connection
Flower City's owners came to retail from the equipment side of the plant. Their Fairport store, Flower City Hydroponics, sells grow gear, and New York now permits adults 21 and over to grow a limited number of cannabis plants at home under state rules. That makes the Victor dispensary an unusual pairing: a family that can talk about both buying finished product and growing your own. Ask staff if you are weighing the two, and check the state's home-cultivation limits before you start.
A cannabis bar for weddings
Flower City also offers something few New York dispensaries promote: a cannabis wedding and event service for celebrations in the Finger Lakes. According to its site, the team curates product selections and gift options for adult guests and designs an on-site presentation, with inquiries taken through an online form. Everything remains limited to guests 21 and over. Couples should also check their venue's rules early, since many Finger Lakes wineries, barns and hotels set their own policies on cannabis, and plan safe rides home for anyone who partakes.
Victor-area alternatives
- FingerLakes Cannabis Co., in a converted train car in Victor village, emphasizes Rochester-area craft growers and delivers across the Finger Lakes. (State records list its license as inactive as of October 2026, so call ahead.)
- Good Life Collective Fingerlakes, on South Main Street in Canandaigua, is a short drive south.
Stores inside the city limits are covered in our list of the best Rochester dispensaries.
Finger Lakes hours compared
For drivers deciding where to stop, state filings show how the area's shops line up. Good Life Collective Fingerlakes in Canandaigua opens at 9 a.m. and closes at 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, with a 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday, nearly matching Flower City's posted weekday schedule. Flower City's own site lists a noon Sunday opening, so a Sunday-morning stop on the way to the lakes may need to go elsewhere. FingerLakes Cannabis Co. in Victor village posts a 9 a.m. Sunday start, but its license status should be checked first. Whichever you choose, pre-ordering online is the fastest way through on a busy Saturday.
Who it's built for
Flower City is built for drivers: Thruway travelers, Eastview Mall shoppers, and suburban residents of Victor, Pittsford, Fairport and Farmington. It also suits anyone who wants to support an owner-operated legacy-to-legal business, and couples planning a 21+ wedding with a cannabis element. Before a Thruway stop, scan the current New York deals and pre-order from the Flower City menu.