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Too many dispensaries can be a bad thing.
That’s according to a panel of experts, who gathered for “Retail in the Garden State: The Municipal Control Effect” at the Benzinga Cannabis Market Spotlight on Monday (June 17) in New Brunswick, New Jersey.
Municipalities often see dollar signs whenever a new dispensary opens because tax revenue spikes. They start wondering: By greenlighting more dispensaries, can we can double and triple that extra income?
Nope.
“What ends up happening is, instead of growing the category, we end up splitting the baby,” according to LKP Impact Consulting CEO Laurie Parfitt.
In other words, oversaturation of the local marijuana market can burn businesses.
“We haven’t grown [the industry] to the level it needs to be in order to support all those dispensaries,” Parfitt said. Her panel of guests — iAnthus Holdings CEO Richie Proud, AYR Wellness Vice President Robert Vanisko, Joyleaf co-founder Jason Ackerman and Valley Wellness CEO Sarah Trent — agreed.
“We’ve seen towns with dispensaries on every corner, and a lot of those dispensaries are failing,” Parfitt told the New Brunswick Performance Center crowd. And the stakes are high: Crime typically goes down when you open a dispensary, data shows. Crime goes up when you
