Green Thumb Partners With Berner's Cookies To Open Store On Las Vegas Strip

Green Thumb Industries Inc. GTII GTBIF has teamed up with Berner’s Cookies to launch the first Nevada-based Cookies store.

According to a joint announcement, "Cookies on the Strip" in Las Vegas will open within the first three months of 2021.

The companies said they would rebrand the Essence store at 2308 South Las Vegas Boulevard. Green Thumb is the owner of Rise and Essence retail stores. 

In addition to Cookies, the new Las Vegas store will offer Lemonnade, Runtz, Minntz, Collins Ave, Run The Jewels, and Grandiflora.

“With a store right on the Strip and our cultivation partners dialed in, as well as an exclusive five-star menu dedicated just to the Nevada market, we are more than ready for Vegas,” explained Berner, whose real name is Gilbert Anthony Milam.

The rapper and  entrepreneur is the founder and CEO of Cookies, named for the cannabis strain he developed with grow expert Jai Chang.

Cookies chose to team up with Green Thumb because they wanted to “do it right,” continued Berner.

“This is a unique opportunity to collaborate with Berner and his visionary team in one of the most popular tourist spots in the world,” commented Green Thumb founder and CEO Ben Kovler.

Meantime, the Essence and Rise stores Las Vegas, Henderson, Spanish Springs, and Carson City will offer Cookies products as well, the press release said.

The Chicago-headquartered company cannabis cultivator and retailer cut the ribbon on its fourth Essence store in Las Vegas in May.

The move might come as an effort from Green Thumb to consolidate its position in the Silver State.

Nevada had a -7% sequential market contraction due to temporary COVID-19 restrictions. However, Pablo Zuanic, Research Analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald, stated on an Aug. 5 report that the overweight-rated Green Thumb will “beat expectations and outperform in the 2Q earnings season.”

Cantor is bullish on Green Thumb for the second half of 2020, and has updated the stock’s price target from $15 to $21, given the overall 18% sequential market growth in states where Green thumb has exposure.

In Pennsylvania, where the company increased its cultivation capacity and added two new retail locations, sequential market growth for the second quarter is 33%.

Benzinga journalist Natan Ponieman contributed to this report.