Retail Strategy
Cannabis NB Sold 100,000 Discount Pre-Rolls. Now Comes the Hard Part
Lori Stickles wants bargain Tuesdays to draw shoppers away from unregulated sellers. With transactions rising and baskets shrinking, the provincial retailer faces a familiar test: giving people a reason to return after the deal.
Rhode Island Restarts 24 Cannabis Licenses. Applicants Still Carry the Rent
The first equity deadline has passed; certification applications are due September 11 and retail applications November 23. Michelle Reddish’s commission has reopened the process, but fee refunds do not reimburse the storefront costs applicants incurred while waiting.
New York's Cannabis Microbusinesses Can Now Sell at Farmers Markets. Fewer Than 1 in 10 Ever Opened a Store
Hochul signed S.10113 on Aug. 6, letting seed-to-sale microbusinesses hold their own showcase-event permits: 14 days per permit, 45 days per site per year, municipal sign-off required. For Goldfinch Flora, whose owners already sell vegetables at the Schenectady Greenmarket, it's a second harvest channel in a tier where 64% say they're losing money.
'You Won't Pay It. We Will.' Seven Months Later, Higher Love Closed Five of Its Nine U.P. Stores
The Marquette chain promised to absorb Michigan's new 24% wholesale tax rather than raise prices. With flower at a record-low $58.18 an ounce and the state collecting a third of what it projected, the Upper Peninsula's rural stores went first.
New Buffalo’s $1.4 Million Cannabis Windfall Meets a Fight Over One Store
New Buffalo Township received $1.4 million in state cannabis revenue sharing for fiscal 2025. Its June 22 board vote cleared three shops and advanced proceedings against Trap Stars Outlet, placing a lucrative border market at the center of a dispute over local enforcement.
San Francisco Approves Amsterdam-Style Cannabis Cafés by a 7-4 Vote, a Bay Area First
Board President Rafael Mandelman's ordinance lets the city's 66 surviving retailers add food, coffee and live entertainment to legal on-site consumption, over objections from the Lung Association and from operators who begged the city to slow down. Mayor Daniel Lurie's signature is the last step.
PharmaCann Goes Dark on May 20: Three States, 192 Layoffs, and a REIT Holding the Match
Innovative Industrial Properties forced PharmaCann to surrender cultivation sites in Colorado, Pennsylvania, and Ohio by late May. The fallout includes 192 jobs, a $49 million sale of LivWell to Vireo Growth, and a warning that federal rescheduling can't save legacy adult-use markets.