I suppose if you have $100 million debt the best business to get into is real estate to try and claw some cash back. Here at CLR it feels to us like taking City Lights Bookstore and turning it into Barnes & Noble type chain. The final nail in the coffin of original west coast cannabis culture… progress it’s a wonderful thing.
This is very telling…….While Simon declined to provide the company’s 2019 revenue figures
Also here’s a quick note for the High Times counsel – you’d better get a cease & desist out to this business asap!
Also if as planned there’s an amsterdam outlet being opened here’s another cease and desist ! Looks like some of the budget is going to have to go to legal
Digiday reports
High Times’ new CEO, Stormy Simon, wants to expand her business beyond its 46-year-old magazine into weed dispensaries.
While Simon, who previously served as president of Overstock.com, would not disclose an official timeline for opening retail venues, she said the company has already purchased retail dispensary licenses. The first two retail venues will be in Las Vegas and Los Angeles, according to a company press release, although Simon said she plans to set up additional stores in markets where High Times has previously held its Cannabis Cup events. These markets include Colorado, Michigan and Washington state, as well as Amsterdam.
“The past three years in cannabis has been like 90 years in any other industry,” Simon said. “In each of these markets, we’ve held Cannabis Cups,” she noted, adding,”And we have award-winning cannabis that can be featured and promoted and displayed on our stores.”
Programmatic advertising has historically been a difficult area for cannabis publishers to capitalize on. And because of this, High Times has put an emphasis on consumer revenue and sponsorship-driven events, as well as direct-to-consumer commerce businesses. Simon said the next step for a publication that connects consumers with cannabis is creating retail locations.
As of Dec. 31, 2018, the last time Hightimes Holding reported revenue amid hopes of launching an IPO, it had earned most of its revenue (almost 70%) from events, including a competition series, the Cannabis Cup; a music festival, the Bright Side Festival; and the BizBash party, held at the cannabis expo MJBizCon. The company’s events business generated ticket sales as well as sponsorship revenue. Advertising and publishing represented 29% of its revenue, with direct sales advertising accounting for most of that revenue stream, though the company also sells some programmatic advertising. And the remaining 2% came from merchandise, commerce and licensing deals. In 2018, the company’s total revenue was $14.8 million.
While Simon declined to provide the company’s 2019 revenue figures, she said she expected retail and commerce to be big areas of potential growth in 2020. Simon did say that merchandise sales increased in 2019 over the previous year but declined to be more specific.
Simon said that parent company Hightimes Holding is still pursuing an IPO — for this year. Hightimes Holdings has raised $20 million from 20,000 investors. She is confident the company can reach $50 million, Simon said, adding that one of the “the best ways to raise capital in the cannabis business” is to give consumers the opportunity to own a piece of the industry and the community.
Direct investment is important for a company seeking to expand into operating a dispensary business because banks won’t finance loans for cannabis businesses, said attorney Michael D. Cutler of EvansCutler Attorneys, which specializes in cannabis licensing in Massachusetts.
Source and read more https://digiday.com/media/new-ceo-high-times-looks-open-dispensaries/
