MedMen Takes Manhattan, Plus Exclusive CEO Video Interview


Robin Lefferts

April 27th, 2018

Exclusive, News, Top Story


As the legalization of cannabis, for both medical and recreational uses, spreads across the United States, some markets and locations present better business opportunities than others. Some states’ regulatory frameworks provide high barriers to entry, giving those able to obtain licenses access to a large share of the market. That is the case in states like California, Nevada and New York, which combined account for about half of the U.S. addressable market for cannabis. California and Nevada have commenced adult-use sales. In the Golden State, marijuana businesses must be licensed by municipalities first, before obtaining a state license. The City of Los Angeles with a population of nearly 4 million has issued fewer than 200 retail licenses with no immediate plans for more. By comparison, the state of Colorado with a population of 5.5 million has issued more than 600 dispensary licenses. Nevada has issued fewer than 40 retail licenses.

In New York, only 10 companies are licensed to manufacture and sell marijuana products for medical-use currently. Those companies are expected to be first in line when the state legalizes adult use. And political momentum is building for legalization. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said recently New York will soon be surrounded by legal marijuana with adult use already legal in most of New England, and Canada and New Jersey likely to follow suit. “For all intents and purposes, it is going to be here anyway,” Cuomo told the New York Post.

MedMen is one of the largest and most established cannabis companies in the U.S. with over 800 employees, 12 retail locations, and cultivation and production facilities spread across California, Nevada and New York. MedMen is defining modern marijuana operations with best-in-class facilities across the entire cannabis vertical in key markets. The company’s recently opened facilities in Manhattan and Nevada highlight this strategy.

CFN Media recently sat down with MedMen CEO and Co-Founder Adam Bierman to discuss the company’s strategy, recent developments, and roadmap.

 

Dispensary on Fifth Avenue

Perhaps the clearest example of MedMen’s approach is the opening of the company’s dispensary in Manhattan, on Fifth Avenue, on 4/20/18. It’s only the third dispensary in Manhattan. The borough boasts a population of over 1.6 million people, and New York City’s overall population is about 8.5 million. The company owns the real estate as well. MedMen also has dispensaries in Syracuse, Buffalo, and Long Island, with its cultivation and production facility located in Utica.

MedMen Fifth Avenue

New York is currently a medical marijuana-only state, but there have been rumblings about going fully legal. In the meantime, the state has granted only 10 licensees the right to open only 40 total dispensaries across the whole state. So MedMen, as one of the licensees, has legal access to theoretically 10% of a market that serves almost 20 million people. Here you see MedMen positioning in New York, taking advantage of a regulatory framework that gives it access to millions of potential customers.

Now, in the state’s fledgling medical program, there are currently about 50,000 registered medical marijuana patients. But that number should expand as the program matures, and the longer term play is for MedMen to gain pole position in a recreational market that could potentially be the nation’s second largest when accounting for tourists from around the world. Massachusetts has already legalized, and New Jersey and Connecticut are in the process of legalizing. It’s not hard to imagine that New York will follow in the not too distant future as the state sees tax dollars accruing for its legalized neighbors.

Nevada Production Facility

MedMen also recently opened a state-of-the-art cultivation and production facility in the Reno, Nevada area. Named Mustang, the 45,000-square-foot factory houses best-in-class greenhouse, extraction, tissue culture, edibles, and laboratory facilities. At peak production, MedMen Mustang will produce about 10,000 pounds of premium cannabis per year, not to mention extracts, edibles, and related products.

MedMen Mustang Flowering Room

With a North Las Vegas dispensary in place and more locations planned in the Las Vegas area, MedMen is tackling the Nevada market with the same gusto it applied in California and New York. The state reported about $200 million in sales in the first six months of full retail operations, and is limiting the number of retail licenses issued to avoid oversaturation of the market.

This returns us to the theme of regulated markets and population centers. In states like Oregon and Colorado there is nearly an unlimited number of licensed retail operators. Establishing a vertically integrated operation in a regulated market like Nevada, and focusing the retail locations in Las Vegas, gives MedMen a powerful position and competitive advantage over less established and more fragmented companies.

Interested parties should keep an eye on MedMen developments as the company executes on its strategic plan to mainstream marijuana. It appears those plans have a solid and fertile foundation.

This article was published by CFN Enterprises Inc. (OTCQB: CNFN), owner and operator of CFN Media, the industry’s leading agency and digital financial media network dedicated to the burgeoning CBD and legal cannabis industries. Call +1 (833) 420-CNFN for more information.

About Robin Lefferts

Robin Lefferts has been involved in the legal cannabis industry since 2012, sometimes as an active participant and always as an interested observer.


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