Can Cannabis 'Bring Retail Back To Life'? Verano, Curaleaf, NewLake Capital Bet Big On Local New Jersey Market

The adage “location, location, location” isn’t just something company bosses say when scouting real estate — especially in the cannabis sector.

Picking the right space to grow, cultivate, sell and move products can make or break a brand. And for Verano Holdings Corp. VRNOF, the right location came in the form of an abandoned Walmart Inc. WMT store.

What Happened: GVM Communications CEO Gia Morón kicked off Benzinga’s Cannabis Market Spotlight event on Monday (June 17) in New Brunswick, New Jersey, with a panel featuring Verano COO Trip McDermott, Curaleaf Holdings Inc CURLF senior Vice President Bobby Sciarrone and Newlake Capital CEO Anthony Coniglio.

The discussion centered on what the cannabis industry can do for the local New Jersey economy and the value in tapping the local talent. Verano, for example, first set up shop in the Garden State by breathing life into an empty storefront — typically an eyesore for surrounding residents.

“Our cultivation facility was an old Walmart,” McDermott told the New Brunswick Performance Center crowd. “We repurposed that and brought it back to life.”

Indeed, Chicago-based Verano took over a gutted Walmart on Route 22 in central New Jersey. It then held a job fair to hire 100 locals, received a permit from the Department of Health's Division of Medical Marijuana to start growing, and opened a dispensary in Elizabeth.

“Bringing that retail back to life” and “utilizing vacant areas” helped bolster the community and local workforce, McDermott explained.

There are also cannabis-adjacent companies that benefit when dispensaries and cultivation facilities open in the state. Apparel companies can cater to retailers and cultivators, or maybe a “well-renowned bakery” will consider cannabis-infused products.

“There’s a lot of ways in which people can support or jump into this space,” McDermott said.

See Also: Verano Reports 3% Revenue Decline YoY For Q1 Driven Primarily By Expected Declines In New Jersey Retail

Sciarrone agreed, praising New Jersey’s slow but steady rollout of recreational and medical cannabis.

“We’ve been here since 2015, growing out of pots on the floor,” Sciarrone recalls. “We appreciate how booming the economy is in this state and how incredibly well things have gone — shop owners are opening up on a weekly basis.”

Why It Matters: As of April, there are more than 120 dispensaries throughout New Jersey’s 21 counties. The marijuana market earned over $800 million in medicinal and recreational cannabis sales in 2023. Cannabis employment in the state, per Vangst jobs data, saw a one-year jump from 3,147 to 7,367 full-time positions in 2023.

Like Verano, New York-based Curaleaf had a hand in boosting the local economy. Curaleaf boasts six locations in total, between Bellmawr, Edgewater and Bordentown.

“We employ [about] 450 people,” Sciarrone said. “We’re always hiring locally.”

Newlake Capital has also “partnered with tenants,” Coniglio said. “This is a decidedly local workforce — each state has its own system when it comes to retail cultivation; you have to have locals to work those facilities.”

What’s Next: Coniglio expects cannabis-infused beverages to be the “big success over the long term.”

“If this industry, long-term, really wants to meet its fullest potential in bringing in new consumers — beverage will be an important complement to the current set of products, he adds.

And regarding interstate commerce, Morón asked: Perhaps we’ll see it “next year?”

Sciarrone doesn’t think so. It’ll “open a can of worms,” he says. “It will come eventually, but not yet — probably not in five years.”

Price Action: At last check Monday, Verano stock is currently trading 5.52% higher at $3.32 per share; Curaleaf is down 3.05% at $3.89 per share.

Cannabis rescheduling seems to be right around the corner. Want to understand what this means for the future of the industry? Hear directly for top executives, investors and policymakers at the 19th Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference, coming to Chicago this Oct. 8-9. Get your tickets now before prices surge by following this link.

Now Read: DeSantis Can’t Get Past The Odor Of Weed To Smell The Flowers — Specifically, $430M Annually In Cannabis Revenue

Photo: Corynn Egreczkyy for Benzinga