It was written, at least it has been for the last 5 years. Medmen has shut down nearly every location in California--their stomping grounds. The only stores operating are in San Diego (10715 Sorrento Valley Rd, San Diego, CA 92121) and Los Angeles (8740 S Sepulveda Blvd Suite 105, Los Angeles, CA 90045). Their flagship store in West Hollywood shut down last month, their San Francisco location recently closed, as have the rest. To make matters worse, their website has been inaccessible since last week. This inevitable ending comes after years of failures that include a revolving door of CEO's, lawsuits surrounding fraud, closures in multiple states--both recreational and medicinal--and, of course, shit weed. They became the butt of all MSO jokes and saw a spike in popularity in the last 5-10 years because of mismanagement.
Medmen boomed in the late 2000's with their infamous branding and a vision that saw themselves as the Apple Store of cannabis. Their stores turned into "high-tech" monstrosities that exemplified a company wasting time, energy, and resources into everything but quality cannabis. Although the cannabis industry has turned into this hypebeast culture where branding and trends are the forefront of a company's outreach to consumers, Medmen could not keep up and failed to convince consumers that they could compete with the newer, more aggressive brands and personalities. Imagine that: a company that, one can argue, pioneered the branding-first attitude in cannabis faltered because of that very same attitude. They brought NOTHING to the table, and consumers recognized that.
During this process of death, shareholders and hedge funds lost millions of dollars, growhouses and facilities are being shut down, and growers/distributors will not be seeing the money owed to them by Medmen. Medmen's stocks are worth nothing, and you better believe a dying company with millions invested in it will be shutting down permanently in the near-future.
Though sad, they won't be missed. As I mentioned, the cannabis industry's sub-culture of fancy mylar bags, "exotic" strains with wacky names, and big social media egos have taken over. However, some of the biggest names who pioneered this 21st century revolution are starting to expose cracks and leaks in their own approaches. One example could be found with Cookies, where lawsuits surrounding fraud, money owed to growers, and manipulation tactics in business deals are starting to pile up on Berner's desk, and the cannabis community is watching closely. You can ask JBeezy of Seedjunky and LB of Runtz. Interestingly enough, their footsteps in the last couple of years resemble that of Medmen's death. Lawsuits and spikes in popularity are starting to become all too common for Cookies, and if news comes out about store closures, that might spell the end of Cookies. Though unlikely and we do not wish that on them, anything can happen.
Medmen could very well be the first domino to fall. More and more reports of fraud and money owed to growers and distributors are hitting the headlines in cannabis. Many MSO's are being exposed for their shady dealings in the past 10 years, and Medmen are but ONE example of why you should invest in both the herb and its cultivators. Put your money where your mouth is.
References:
"Medmen believers burned" https://www.greenmarketreport.com/medmen-believers-burned/
"MedMen Reportedly Closes All But Two California Locations" https://hightimes.com/dispensaries/medmen-reportedly-closes-all-but-two-california-locations/
--Updates on this story coming soon--
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