Long before cannabis retail became crowded with corporate chains and out-of-state operators, Pepe Breton was already doing it here. His dispensary Euflora, one of the first recreational licensees in the state of Colorado, opened its doors on the 16th Street Mall at a moment when nobody really knew what legal cannabis retail would look like. Breton figured it out anyway, building a reputation for knowledgeable staff, honest pricing, and a store that felt welcoming rather than clinical.
The business changed hands and names over the years, operating for a time as Jars, but the bones of what Breton built stayed intact. Those same locations, the downtown Denver storefront steps from where UpdoNA members work and gather, and a second spot out in Aurora, kept serving the community through every rebrand.
Now Breton is back, and he brought a new name with him. FlyHi reopened those stores in 2025 with a clear sense of purpose: take everything that worked about Euflora, strip away what didn’t, and build something worth sticking around for.
Building the right team was part of that mission from the start. Breton recruited Richard Atras, who came all the way from Alabama to join the operation. Richard started out working on the supply side, learning the Colorado market from the ground up, and his impact was apparent almost immediately. He rose quickly to Chief Operating Officer, a trajectory that says as much about his talent as it does about the culture Breton has built around him. Day to day, General Manager Colin Patrick keeps the stores running with the kind of steady hand that customers feel even when they can’t name it.
What makes FlyHi worth paying attention to isn’t just the history or the people, though. It’s the sourcing. The team partners with Colorado growers and producers it has known for years, some of them relationships that go back to the Euflora era. That continuity matters in an industry that has seen wave after wave of consolidation and corner-cutting. When you pick up flower at FlyHi, you’re buying from cultivators who have been growing for this community, not for a spreadsheet somewhere.
That community commitment extends to UpdoNA residents directly. Mention UpdoNA at checkout and you’ll receive 25% off your purchase. It’s a tangible expression of the same philosophy that brings FlyHi out to neighborhood events: this is a business that sees itself as part of the fabric of the community, not just a storefront within it.
FlyHi is at 401 16th Street in downtown Denver and 4343 S. Buckley Road in Aurora. More at flyhi.com.
Please welcome our latest UpDoNA business member FlyHi!
Photo Attributions: FlyHi
