MedMen, a multi-state cannabis company known as the “Apple Store of weed” has suddenly shuttered its West Hollywood location. Staff were given less than 24 hours’ notice they would soon be unemployed, and customers arrived at the dispensary Wednesday to see locked doors and empty shelves.
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The news comes as layoffs on the corporate level continue. According to MJBizDaily, the California company let several accounting and marketing team members go last week.
Elizabeth Udell, a former MedMen corporate employee, was troubled by the news, calling the closure “very sad.”
“MedMen WeHo was one of the original four medical dispensaries and has been through so much,” Udell told GreenState, attributing the company’s downfall to “fast spending in a high-pressure industry.”
West Hollywood Mayor John Erickson had less sympathy for the dispensary chain, expressing frustration at the closing of the WeHo store.
“It’s disappointing to see how MedMen left our community; MedMen left their employees high and dry with no notice,” Erickson said via email. “I’m startled by the continual treatment of employees by multiple businesses that continue to expand and line the pockets of their investors versus taking care of their employees.”
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The rise and fall of MedMen
The WeHo store closure is yet another blow for the struggling weed retailer, which saw its shares fall to a value of zero in mid-January. Once valued at $1.6 billion, MedMen was on top of its game less than six years ago, but signs of trouble soon emerged.
The company did not meet early sales projections and quickly racked up tens of millions in debt. Reports of questionable business practices and overspending by MedMen executives led to the resignation of several C-suite members in April 2019. The company was even lampooned on an episode of South Park.
Many believe MedMen is heading into receivership, a legal scenario that allows businesses to restructure assets to avoid bankruptcy or liquidation. According to unverified Securities and Exchange Commission filings posted on Reddit, the company has allegedly retained a consultant to identify MedMen’s assets and figure out the best way to monetize these assets in order to “optimize cash proceeds.” The consultant has also been directed to “Develop and execute a plan for the orderly winddown of Company operations and affairs.”
The company pulled out of Nevada and Arizona at the end of 2023, selling its assets to Mint Cannabis. As reported by SFGate, trading of MedMen’s stock ceased in early January after Canadian regulators found the retailer had “repeatedly failed to file financial reports.” The suspension also led to a delisting of the publicly traded company from the Canadian Securities Exchange.
The closing of the WeHo MedMen store and continuing corporate layoffs could be a sign of what’s to come for the troubled cannabis company. The company’s CEO exited her position earlier this month after only six months on the job. Despite high hopes early on, the dispensary’s dreams of weed domination have seemingly gone up in smoke.
