Sweet Leaf Glass, the quaint littl
e store behind Burger King just off West Superior in Wayland, has been in business since May 18, and though many call it a “head shop,” the co-owners insist it’s more than that.
A “head shop” is a business that legally sells paraphernalia associated with the use of medical marijuana, but Sweet Leaf owners proudly say it sells locally produced glass products and other items.
Co-owners are Joshua Wyatt, 32, and Megan Roxbury, 33. Both of them have deep roots in the Hopkins and Dorr areas.
“I was raised in Dorr Township from the age of 7 and went to Hopkins up until sixth 
grade, from which I moved to home schoolin
g before finally deciding to go back to a more formal school situation,” Wyatt said. “I decided to go to Discovery Alternative High, a now closed alternative education school. I proceeded to work toward my diploma, earning the West Michigan student leadership award along the way and finally graduating in 2001.”
Wyatt said after that he tried a variety of things in an effort to “try and find my place in the world, what I wanted to do with my life. I knew I wanted to own my own business.”
Roxbury, his partner, was raised in Hopkins and attended Hopkins high school until 10th grade, when she moved to Allegan Alternative High, earning her GED in 2000.
Megan then began working for JC Penny In the pricing and sign department before her position was eliminated in 2011.
“After some time struggling to find work in the job market, she suggested we open our own shop,” Wyatt said. That started to get the ball rolling in November last year.
“Megan and I for a long time had discussed opening a business for ourselves. We just weren’t sure what type of business, but it should be something we are going to love doing.
“Megan then suggested, ‘We should open a head shop.’
“We have always had an appreciation for that type of art form and an interest in learning more about it. My current job had netted me numerous local contacts for the glass art. So at that time I thought we can make this happen.”
The two spent the next six months putting together a business plan and making the contacts needed to fill their shop with locally made glass.
So why did the Sweet Leaf owners decide on Wayland?
“Many factors came into play,” Wyatt explained. “We both live close by, we both thought the placement of the location to the surrounding business’ and U.S.-131 was ideal for maximizing our potential customer base. Most of all, we both love the area — not quite city and not in the middle of nowhere country. You get the best of both worlds here.”
Besides unique glass products, Sweet Leaf sells supplies for playing disc golf, incense and incense burners for those who enjoy pleasant aromas, stickers and hat pins for collectors, desktop and portable vaporizers for people with lung problems who still want to smoke tobacco or legal herb, E-juice batteries, tanks, and few lines of E-juice for those trying to quit smoking, and other various items.
“Of course, our main attraction is the glass art,” Wyatt said. A majority of our glass is hand made right here in Michigan by local glass blowers. We have pendants and pieces that can be used for tobacco and legal herb, however, it’s only when those pieces are used for those purposes, that they become something other than art.
“First and foremost, that’s what these pieces are. Would you look at a Picasso any differently simply because it could be used for some other purpose?”
Sweet Leaf does not offer exchange or sale of medical marijuana in, on or around the store, nor does it offer any space for caregivers or patients to exchange or sell medical marijuana. That is how it differs from the more controversial CDXX Boutique on 124th Avenue in Shelbyville, Martin Township.
“The majority of our glass is from local artists whereas I understand CDXX orders theirs glass through distributors,” Wyatt added.
Unlike CDXX, Sweet Leaf Glass was welcomed by City of Wayland officials and even held a ribbon cutting with the Wayland Area Chamber of Commerce last May.
“Yes we were welcomed very graciously,” Wyatt said. “We were also very open about who we are and what we were intent on doing. We went to City Hall prior to even having our building to ask about any licensing we needed to get. We told everyone at City Hall about us, then went over to the Chamber of Commerce to tell them about ourselves and to become members. I feel the upfront nature of our business startup is what led to our acceptance by the Wayland community.”
Yet the Sweet Leaf co-owners acknowledge the increasing acceptance of marijuana medically and perhaps later recreationally.
“I think now more than ever there is a sustainable market for our business type,” Wyatt said. “With the ever-growing evidence of the positive medicinal effects that medical marijuana has, I feel more and more people are going to have the desire to get away from the debilitating effects a lot of prescription pills can have on them. Those people are going to need items that allow them to use medical marijuana.
“I think the future is bright for our kind of stores. With legalization will come a growing acceptance. With that, many people may decide to try it themselves, many may even decide it is a better option for them and with that will come better business.”
The co-owners said they believe Wayland and the surrounding areas are growing fast and areas between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo are prime real estate now, a good time to establish business in this community, get a foothold and let the area build up nearby.
“We have many goals for ourselves and the Wayland community,” Wyatt said. “We are striving to become one of Michigan’s largest suppliers of locally made glass. We have a long way to go, but every journey began with but a step.
“We are also currently working on putting together plans to go before the City Council in an effort to have a disc golf course established somewhere around the Wayland area.”
PHOTOS: Sweet Leaf Glass LLC
Joshua Wyatt Megan Roxbury