Shaun Painter hasn't been resting on his laurels since he and two partners opened Your CBD Store in the LaSalle Plaza in Cranberry Township on April 8, 2019.

He has worked with people he knows to bring 14 more stores to Butler and Allegheny counties since the opening of the Cranberry Township store, which occurred after he opened his first store in Gibsonia in Allegheny County in December 2018.

A one-year anniversary for the Cranberry store was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic to Aug. 8.

“Each of our stores has a spa-like atmosphere,” Painter said.

The stores have individual spaces where employees sit with customers and explain how CBD works, how to use the various CBD products and dosages, he said.

Products include edibles such as gummies and hard candy, hemp oil, topical cream, pet snacks and skin care products like bath bombs and face cream. The products are made by SunFlora of St. Petersburg, Fla.

Painter got started in the business after selling stock he owned in CBD and cannabis companies and investing in Your CBD Store franchises. Wayne Bell and Bruce Bailey are the partners in the Cranberry store.

The decision to invest came after conducting research into the hemp plant and its health benefits.

“That's when I knew there would be a big surge in CBD,” Painter said.

He said the THC level in CBD products at Your CBD Store is .3 percent or less.

The topical relief cream, which won a best product award at a national trade show, is the best-selling product.

“That's our No. 1 product. People use that for arthritis, pain, headaches. The beauty line and the pet line also won awards,” Painter said.

Your CBD Store also sells CBN products for sleeping and CBG products for pain and inflammation.

After opening the first two stores, he said, friends and other people he knows began asking him about opening their own stores.

“I wanted them to get involved with the CBD business and the health benefits of CBD, so I decided to partner with them,” Painter said.

The partnerships led to the opening of 14 new stores, including locations in Butler Township, Zelienople and the North Hills in Allegheny County.

“Between me and my partners, we opened 16 stores in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area,” Painter said.

He said he is a partner in eight of the stores and is planning to open three more.

The company has 546 franchises in the country and four in the United Kingdom.

Painter said the Cranberry Township store has donated $30,000 to various charities during the year it has been open.

The Cranberry, Zelienople and North Hills stores offered free grocery delivery to elderly residents while the stores were closed during the pandemic, he said.

“We've been very generous,” Painter said.

Employees receive 30 hours of webinar training from SunFlora and 40 hours of additional training to learn about the products and find the right products to meet customer needs.

“We want to make sure that when the customer comes in, we do the homework for them,” Painter said.

The Cranberry store has eight employees and all 16 stores have a total of 80 to 100 employees, he said.