News

 Local, independent, and BIPOC-owned cannabis company SWAY earned approval from the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals for an adult-use cannabis dispensary in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood at 6950 S. Stony Island Avenue in a space that had been vacant for nearly two decades.

Block Club Chicago | Maxwell Evans | July 23, 2024

SOUTH SHORE — A cannabis dispensary is in the works for a vacant property on Stony Island Avenue, and company officials are working to open the business by the end of the year, they said.

Officials with Sway, which recently opened the state’s first LGBTQ+- and minority-owned dispensary in Lakeview, detailed their plans for a South Shore dispensary at a community meeting Monday.

Chicago Tribune | Robert McCoppin | July 2, 2024

After years of struggling to get off the ground, several cannabis operators have bucked the trend of companies unable to acquire financing.

Chicago Tribune | Laura Washington | April 29, 2024

Sway debuted this month in the Northalsted neighborhood on Chicago’s North Side. It is a history-making moment that honors history.

The new cannabis dispensary, at 3340 N. Halsted St., sits across from Sidetrack, one of the most successful gay bars in the nation. Sway is “one of the first queer-owned and BIPOC-owned cannabis companies in the nation,” its owners say.

Windy City Times | Lu Calzada | April 12, 2024

A small group gathered April 12 at 3340 N. Halsted St. to celebrate the grand opening of a historic new Northalsted business.

SWAY, Illinois' first queer and BIPOC-owned cannabis company, marked the opening of its dispensary with a few words from co-owners and elected officials along with a ceremonial ribbon cutting. Afterwards, folks were welcomed in to begin shopping the store's selections of cannabis products and related items.

CBS News | By Todd Feurer | April 15, 2024

Illinois' first all-minority, LGBTQ, and veteran-owned marijuana dispensary opened Friday in the Northalsted neighborhood on Chicago's North Side.

Sway, partly owned by the co-owners of the popular bar Sidetrack will open across the street, in what was once the Town Hall Pub bar that closed in 2021.

GoPride | Ross Forman | April 10, 2024

SWAY, one of the first queer-owned and BIPOC-owned cannabis companies in the nation, is opening this Friday, April 12 – and we are the first media outlet to offer an inside look at the new cannabis store coming to the Lakeview neighborhood commonly called Boystown.

The LGBTQ+- and POC-owned dispensary is co-owned by Art Johnston and Jose Pepe Peña of Sidetrack, cannabis equity advocate Edie Moore and entrepreneur Kevin Hauswirth. Sway fills the former Town Hall Pub storefront at 3340 N.

WGN9 Chicago | Sean Lewis, Eli Ong | April 7, 2024

In the heart of North Side nightlife and culture, there will be a first in the history of Illinois. With bright colors and and an array of lights, Sway will be the state’s first all-minority, LGBTQ-owned cannabis dispensary when it opens next week. “Sway is a feeling, it’s a vibe,” said Edie Moore, co-owner of Sway. “It’s the culmination of Black and Brown communities and LGBTQ communities … coming together for cannabis.”

Windy City Times | Tatiana Walk-Morris | April 1, 2024

Since 1970, 3340 N Halsted St. had been the home of the Townhall Pub, the beloved cash-only dive bar known for its tasty drinks and friendly staff. But after Townhall's former owner William Bucholtz passed away from COVID-19 in 2021, the pub closed down. Now, about three years later, a new business is set to open the space again for business—this time as a cannabis dispensary.

WBBM | Andy Dahn | April 1, 2024

Three years after it closed for good, a popular Northalsted tavern will have a much different look -- but a similar, welcoming environment, entrepreneurs say. Kevin Hauswirth is preparing to open the cannabis dispensary, Sway, in the former Townhall Pub.

Sway | April 24, 2023

New BIPOC, Veteran, Queer-led, Adult-Use Cannabis Dispensary Receives Zoning Board of Appeals Approval and Broad Community Support to Open in Chicago’s Northalsted Entertainment District

Windy City Times | Andrew Davis | April 26, 2023

On April 21, the Chicago Zoning Board of Appeals approved plans to open an LGBTQ+- and BIPOC-owned adult-use cannabis dispensary in Chicago's Northalsted neighborhood, at 3340 North Halsted St., in the former Town Hall Pub space.

Block Club Chicago | Jake Wittich | April 24, 2023

The dispensary opening in the former Town Hall Pub space will be named Sway after a weed brand that's Black- and gay-owned.

Block Club Chicago | Jake Wittich | March 14, 2023

One owner of the proposed weed dispensary in Northalsted said “opening a successful, inclusive dispensary” in the LGBTQ district “is about more than cannabis”

GOPride | Ross Forman | March 13, 2023

Queer- and POC-owned weed dispensary proposed for former Town Hall Pub space along North Halsted Street