New York NY – December 11, 2018 – Last month, Massachusetts became the latest to join the ranks of US states now legally selling recreational cannabis. While legalization in the state of Massachusetts was officially declared back in July this year, the first licensed dispensaries in the state opened their doors for recreational sale on November 20th. With an estimated $1.8 billion industry at stake in the New England state, companies are already heading east to establish themselves in newly legal markets, including Green Growth Brands (CSE:GGB), Canopy Growth Corporation (CSE:WEED) (NYSE:CGC), Acreage Holdings Inc. (CSE:ACRG) (OTC:ACRZF), Green Thumb Industries (CSE:GTII) (OTC:GTBIF), and Harvest Health & Recreation (CSE:HARV) (OTC:HTHHF).
Already have Massachusetts retailers begun sales, with Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz becoming the very first customer for one of the first two recreational dispensaries in the state.
Narkewicz’s jurisdiction quickly became the center of attention of a significant acquisition, after retail experts, Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) entered the Northampton market with a splash. Through the acquisition of membership interests in Northampton-based Just Healthy LLC, Green Growth Brands (CNQ:GGB.CN) picked up the rights to up to three marijuana dispensaries, as well as cultivation and production licenses in the state.
“We are excited at the prospect of competing in one of the most lucrative cannabis markets in the United States,” said Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) CEO Peter Horvath. “If you look at our track record, you can see that we have the product development and marketing expertise to outperform in retail, and now we have the distribution channels to bring a superior cannabis shopping experience to the people of Massachusetts.”
With the proximity to a large student population in nearby Amherst, Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) plans to center its entry into the Northampton market around creating a footprint as the go-to cannabis retail location in Massachusetts.
The company has all the tools to achieve this, as Horvath’s personal retail experience far exceeds anyone else in the cannabis space. He’s held C-level tenures at the helms of Victoria’s Secret, American Eagle Outfitters, DSW and Limited Brands. His team is rounded out with fellow retail leaders who join him in his vision of reinventing the cannabis retail experience.
“Not only are we now able to operate in Massachusetts, but we are able to do it through the acquisition of licenses and rights that give us almost turnkey vertical integration,” continued Horvath. “When we look at other transactions of this nature, in this state and elsewhere in the U.S., we can say that we are very happy with the terms of the deal and with our relationship with Just Healthy’s management team.”
A New Retail Movement Begins
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts legalized the sale of cannabis for recreational use effective July 1st, 2018 – but sales have just begun as the first licensed dispensaries opened their doors this November 20th. When it matures, the state’s cannabis market is expected to generate up to US$1.8 billion in annual marijuana sales.
According to Massachusetts’ Cannabis Control Commission, the state’s two recreational dispensaries – Cultivate (in Leicester) and New England Treatment Access (in Northampton) have seen $4.8 million in sales since they opened for legal recreational pot sales in late November.
In an effort to capture a healthy portion of this new market, companies such as Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) is making the move early on.
As part of the Just Healthy deal, Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) also picked up a series of assets beyond the previously mentioned licenses. These included all grow equipment and supplies, all production equipment and supplies, the assumption of all leases, intellectual property owned by Just Healthy and all other assets necessary to operate its vertically integrated operations.
The acquisition was just another tranche of Green Growth Brands’ (CSE: GGB) aggressive expansion plans after raising CAD$140 million prior to its recent RTO. The company has stormed out of the gate, zeroing in on establishing authentic brands and innovative stores.
Prior to the RTO, there was much excitement over the possibilities of a fully-qualified retail team entering the sector. In an interview with Green Growth Brands’ CEO Peter Horvath, CNBC’s Mad Money host Jim Cramer was most excited about Horvath’s retail experience, stating, “This is the first CEO that’s going into retail that’s actually been in retail.”
Before the show went to commercial, Cramer excitedly added, “I cannot wait until you come public.”
Sadly, up until companies such as Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) entered the scene, customers have found the cannabis shopping experience to be fairly lacking. The excuse of the sector’s newness is wearing thin, and finally expert help is on the way, both for buyers and producers/suppliers.
“The team we’ve put together is arguably one of the top retail teams in any market, let alone cannabis,” Horvath told Jim Cramer in the October TV interview.
Beyond the team itself, Horvath has put together quite the war chest to dispense on acquisitions such as the Just Healthy deal. He was also instrumental in raising CAD$85 million in the Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) private placement, which far exceeded the original target of CAD$55 million.
Moving forward, the Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) game plan doesn’t just begin and end with cannabis retail stores. The company is also aggressively moving into the cannabidiol (CBD) space, which is pegged to potentially reach $22 billion by 2022.
Due to its non-intoxicating nature, the mainstream potential for CBD products is quite high— even for those uncomfortable the other prominent (and psychoactive) cannabinoid, THC.
Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB) has already rolled out its a unique line of CBD-infused beauty products, dubbed “Seventh Sense”, which will be sold in regular stores including drug stores, grocery stores, and other retail stores. Backed by management’s experience and extensive retail connections, getting products on mainstream shelves should be a smooth process.
Something For Everyone
Across all of the offerings from Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB), there appears to be something for everyone—Including an outdoorsy/active living niche of its CAMP brand, a self-care botanical therapy products called Seventh Sense, a surf culture Meri + Jayne brand, feminine targeted Green Lily botanical products, the newly-acquired Just Healthy line, and its flagship dispensary subsidiary called The Source.
Through a unique branding strategy Green Growth Brands (CSE:GGB) is choosing to move away from traditional customer demographics—Instead choosing to strategize its segmenting by emotion. For example, Meri + Jayne focuses on combining the feeling of fun and well-being, while CAMP focuses on the experience of being at one with nature.
Among the company’s assets so far, there is perhaps the greatest potential for further expansions through water solubility. Through its state-of-the-art, patent-pending developer brand Xanthic Biopharma Green Growth Brands (CSE:GGB) controls a proprietary process to make THC and CBD water soluble. With water-soluble cannabinoids at the ready, the company gains a seemingly limitless potential to develop new products, from beauty products to edibles and drinks.
Massachusetts Growing The Eastern Market
Through a strategic partnership with Compassionate Organics, Green Thumb Industries (CSE:GTII) (OTCQX:GTBIF) is moving forward to operationalize a Boston-based medical marijuana dispensary on historic Newbury Street. Green Thumb is vertically integrated, with a primary focus of being a national cannabis consumer packaged goods company. The Chicago-based company owns and operates a national chain of retail cannabis stores called RISETM dispensaries. Green Thumb has eight manufacturing facilities and licenses for 60 retail locations across eight highly-regulated US markets.
Getting past the regulatory requirements can prove difficult. Despite publicly stating that it will not sell its products in the US until they’re federally legal, Canopy Growth Corporation (CSE:WEED) (NYSE:CGC) is intently keeping its eye on all US markets. The cannabis giant recently announced it was buying pot research company Ebbu in a deal worth $25 million. The deal with could include an additional $75 million in cash and shares, if certain scientific-related milestones are achieved within two years. Canopy plans to employ Ebbu’s assets and personnel to conduct R&D, but will not engage in production nor sales until the US lifts prohibition federally.
Arizona-based Harvest Health & Recreation (CSE:HARV) (OTC:HTHHF) is a vertically integrated cannabis company with permits and licenses in 10 US states—including local approvals in Massachusetts. The company recently acquired CBx Enterprises, whose technology is utilized by Evolab, CBx Sciences and CBx Essentials. CBx’s CO2 extraction abilities help to give Harvest further abilities to access patients and consumers across the country.
In another newly legalized state, Michigan, Acreage Holdings Inc. (CSE:ACRG) (OTC:ACRZF) recently announced it would acquire a Michigan real estate portfolio ahead of the state’s official cannabis licensing. Through an agreement to acquire the assets of Michigan-based Blue Tire Holdings, LLC, Acreage Holdings now has a foothold to bring cannabis products to Michigan residents throughout the state. The move into Michigan is strategic on behalf of Acreage Holdings, as the state is one of the highest per-capita cannabis markets in the US.
For more information on Green Growth Brands (CSE: GGB), visit potstocknews.com.
Disclaimer: Potstocknews.com (PSN) is the source of the Article and content set forth above. References to any issuer other than the profiled issuer are intended solely to identify industry participants and do not constitute an endorsement of any issuer and do not constitute a comparison to the profiled issuer. FN Media Group (FNM) is a third-party publisher and news dissemination service provider, which disseminates electronic information through multiple online media channels. FNM is NOT affiliated with PSN or any company mentioned herein. The commentary, views and opinions expressed in this release by PSN are solely those of PSN and are not shared by and do not reflect in any manner the views or opinions of FNM. Readers of this Article and content agree that they cannot and will not seek to hold liable PSN and FNM for any investment decisions by their readers or subscribers. PSN and FNM and their respective affiliated companies are a news dissemination and financial marketing solutions provider and are NOT registered broker-dealers/analysts/investment advisers, hold no investment licenses and may NOT sell, offer to sell or offer to buy any security.
The Article and content related to the profiled company represent the personal and subjective views of the Author (PSN), and are subject to change at any time without notice. The information provided in the Article and the content has been obtained from sources which the Author believes to be reliable. However, the Author (PSN) has not independently verified or otherwise investigated all such information. None of the Author, PSN, FNM, or any of their respective affiliates, guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any such information. This Article and content are not, and should not be regarded as investment advice or as a recommendation regarding any particular security or course of action; readers are strongly urged to speak with their own investment advisor and review all of the profiled issuer’s filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission before making any investment decisions and should understand the risks associated with an investment in the profiled issuer’s securities, including, but not limited to, the complete loss of your investment. FNM was not compensated by any public company mentioned herein to disseminate this press release but was compensated forty five hundred dollars by PSN, a non-affiliated third party to distribute this release on behalf of Green Growth Brands
FNM HOLDS NO SHARES OF ANY COMPANY NAMED IN THIS RELEASE.
This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended and such forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. “Forward-looking statements” describe future expectations, plans, results, or strategies and are generally preceded by words such as “may”, “future”, “plan” or “planned”, “will” or “should”, “expected,” “anticipates”, “draft”, “eventually” or “projected”. You are cautioned that such statements are subject to a multitude of risks and uncertainties that could cause future circumstances, events, or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements, including the risks that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, and other risks identified in a company’s annual report on Form 10-K or 10-KSB and other filings made by such company with the Securities and Exchange Commission. You should consider these factors in evaluating the forward-looking statements included herein, and not place undue reliance on such statements. The forward-looking statements in this release are made as of the date hereof and PSN and FNM undertake no obligation to update such statements.
Media Contact:
FN Media Group, LLC
info@financialnewsmedia.com
+1(561)325-8757