Green Dragon to stay open with investment
Dispensary’s parent company gets $10 million to expand operations
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Cannabis will keep flowing from Aspen’s Green Dragon dispensary after the company procured a financial lifeline.
Tech billionaire James Clark, who bought Eaze’s assets in an August public auction, invested $10 million for the company to remain open and expand operations. Eaze CEO Cory Azzalino released a statement confirming the funding last week.
Aspen Green Dragon employees are hopeful about the company’s recent shift to remain operational.
“I’m super happy to know that we still have jobs,” Green Dragon Assistant Manager Jackson Landis said. “It was a shame. People really like this dispensary.”
Eaze, the California-based cannabis delivery company that acquired Green Dragon in 2021, announced in mid-October that they sold their assets in the August auction.
The sale followed their $37 million loan agreement with FoundersJT LLC, owned by Clark, which gave the lenders the right to seize control of Eaze if the company didn’t meet their revenue goals. He foreclosed the assets and bought them at the auction.
Eaze filed termination notices to 113 workers in Florida and 59 workers in Colorado who worked at Green Dragon’s grow facilities in mid-October.
But Green Dragon dispensary employees were told not to fear for their jobs, Landis told The Aspen Times last month. Earlier this week, Green Dragon management confirmed with employees that, because of the investment, Colorado dispensary operations will continue.
“There (were) a lot of people that were disappointed, you know, that we were going to close … because they like our product,” Aspen Green Dragon Assistant Manager Brian Cooley said. “It’s encouraging.”
With the recent financial boost, the company will expand its operations in California, Colorado, Florida, and Michigan, including two production facilities, 11 delivery hubs, 57 retail stores, according to Azzalino’s statement. They will also hire approximately 1,200 employees.
“As we move ahead with this new chapter, Eaze inc. is focused on sustainable growth and delivering for our customers and communities,” wrote Azzalino.
“Sustainable growth” includes doubling the company’s flowering canopy production capacity in Florida, and opening new dispensaries in Colorado, Florida, California, and Michigan, according to Azzalino.
But critics worry the $10 million won’t be enough to get the company out of financial straits.
“The company is close to cash flow break even,” Azzalino responded to his original announcement. “We’ve already invested the cap ex (capital expenditures) in our Florida cultivation facility to get the last part of the business losing money to profitability, but just need it to turn on.”
Eaze also plans to add cannabis delivery to their Colorado repertoire, Azzalino reportedly said.
“I haven’t seen anyone offer a delivery service in Colorado before,” Landis said. “So it would be really cool if we did.”
He said he thinks cannabis delivery would be popular in Aspen.
“We get people all the time asking if we deliver,” he said. “Especially for our location, it’s hard to come in, find a place to park, run in real quick, grab your stuff, and run out without having to pay to park.”
The Aspen location currently does pickup orders, where customers can order over the phone ahead of time, before they come by the shop to pick up their purchase.
Skyler Stark-Ragsdale can be reached at 970-429-9152 or email him at sstark-ragsdale@aspentimes.com.
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