Those long lines outside cannabis shops in West Hollywood in early January aren’t the only indicator of the financial impact of the legalization of recreational cannabis sales.
Captor Capital Corp. today announced that its I-5 Holdings Ltd. has reported that sales and foot traffic were up significantly for the month of January at the MedMen cannabis dispensaries in West Hollywood and Santa Ana.
At the West Hollywood location, which is at 8208 Santa Monica Blvd. near Havenhurst, January revenues were up more than 200% over the month before and almost 500% over January 2017. MedMen had 23,606 customers in January, also up more than 200% over the previous month and almost 350% over January 2017. Sale of recreational cannabis became legal in California on Jan. 1 of this year. Previously MedMen and other shops were only allowed to sell medical cannabis, which required a doctor’s prescription.
At the Santa Ana location in Orange County, revenues were up almost 100% over the previous month and almost 200% over of sales six months earlier (the Santa Ana location opened in June 2017). Customer traffic, at 5,051 people, was up almost 150% compared to the previous month and almost 250% over July 2017.
The Santa Ana location opened for recreational cannabis sales on Jan. 1, becoming the first to do so in Southern California. MedMen’s West Hollywood location along with four other WeHo medical cannabis dispensaries began selling recreational cannabis on Jan. 2, becoming the first to do so in Los Angeles County.
“The popularity of the West Hollywood and Santa Ana dispensaries has been even greater than we had hoped for, both in terms of revenue and foot traffic,” said John MacPhail, CEO of I-5 Holdings. “The fact that the store enjoyed such growth in January is down to more than legalization, it’s also about the popularity of the industry-leading MedMen brand.”
I-5 Holdings Ltd. is a Canadian cannabis company that owns the cannabis dispensaries operated by MedMen, a Los Angeles-based cannabis management services firm founded by Andrew Modlin and Adam Bierman with licensed dispensaries in Beverly Hills, LAX, downtown Los Angeles, Venice, Santa Ana and West Hollywood as well as three locations in New York State and one planned for Las Vegas. It also manages cultivation sites and manufacturing facilities. Captor Capital, a Canadian investment company, announced on Jan. 5 that it had acquired I-5 Holdings “in order to maximize the growth potential of the two I-5 Holdings dispensaries located in the Los Angeles area operating under the MedMen brand.”
Alison, no, it is not. Go to MedMen, and then go to the dispensary at Orange Grove and SMB (at the top of my street). See which one has longer lines, especially on weekends. MedMen has been spending a lot of money on marketing and advertising. See here, for more info:
https://staging.wehoville.com/2017/06/16/ganjapreneur-next-door-med-mens-andrew-modlin/
“Foolhardy lawmakers”? Is this in reference to the 57.13% (vs. 42.87) who supported Prop 64 legalizing adult use marijuana or are you referring to the 5-member Council that govern a City that supported Prop 64 by 82.9% (vs. 17.3)? Although a massive learning experience for the City at the time, which included a few early hurdles the City and medical marijuana dispensaries had to overcome, the City of West Hollywood showed we could be a leader in the regulation of medical marijuana dispensaries. It makes sense for us to also lead this new way forward, knowing there may be a… Read more »
Lemmings, beget lemmings, beget more lemmings!
There is no way to return the genie to the bottle.
Foolhardy lawmakers looking only for revenue rewards and not assessing risk.
Too risky!! Even if some think its the next greatest thing.
A few days ago I was parking in the paid lot behind MedMen and there were two teenagers buying cannabis from some guy next to my car. As I put the money in the meter, the guy selling didn’t even try to hide the fact of his sale and just smiled. What was more ludicrous there were the two MedMen “security” guards a few yards away in the alley behind the cannabis outlet? Of course since West Hollywood’s “police force” doesn’t have beat cops or motorcycle cops WEHO is the best place to get away with selling drugs and using… Read more »
Big city problems can easily crush an urban village that thinks it is a sophisticated city. Many issues taking root in WeHo seem beyond the consciousness and expertise of our leaders and staff despite the many misleading awards. The combination of our leaders does not equate to a Joe Riley, the great mayor who during his 10 terms brought Charleston back from the dust. The city rose from a decaying relic to a modern urban cultural center, never forgetting the poor and unskilled who became part of the fabric in its resurgence.
Those are impressive numbers, but are skewed by the fact Med Men happened to have two of their stores in cities who allowed recreational sales to start Jan 1st, when virtually all other SoCal cities had not yet allowed such sales. So all the long lines we saw were due to folks coming to WeHo (or Santa Ana) for the weed. What is not discussed are the sales in January of Med Men’s other locations. This just becomes cherry picked data.
“The fact that the store enjoyed such growth in January is down to more than legalization, it’s also about the popularity of the industry-leading MedMen brand.” That is delusional thinking LOL. It is ALL about legalization.