{"id":10530,"date":"2024-11-14T13:36:12","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T13:36:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/?p=6837420"},"modified":"2024-11-14T13:36:12","modified_gmt":"2024-11-14T13:36:12","slug":"green-dragon-dispensaries-grow-facility-to-remain-open-after-cash-infusion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/green-dragon-dispensaries-grow-facility-to-remain-open-after-cash-infusion\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Dragon dispensaries, grow facility to remain open after cash infusion"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0 5px 5px;float:right;height:100px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/green-dragon-dispensaries-grow-facility-to-remain-open-after-cash-infusion\/\" send=\"true\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<div><img src=\"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/green-dragon-dispensaries-grow-facility-to-remain-open-after-cash-infusion.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" \/><\/div>\n<p>In an unexpected turn, Green Dragon, one of the largest dispensary chains in Colorado, will keep its stores and grow facility open.<\/p>\n<p>The retailer\u2019s parent company, California-based Eaze, got an infusion of $10 million from its owner, Jim Clark, to remain operating, it announced Tuesday. Clark, the billionaire founder of the defunct tech firm Netscape, foreclosed on the company\u2019s assets in August for $54 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve just been working with the new ownership group to assess what we\u2019re doing in the future,\u201d said Cory Azzalino, Eaze\u2019s CEO. \u201cIt\u2019s nothing world-shaking, but I\u2019m excited to keep going.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The news comes after the company announced last month that Green Dragon <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2024\/10\/28\/green-dragon-closing-dispensary-grow-house-colorado\/\">would cease operations<\/a>. The business filed a notice with the Colorado labor department saying it would lay off 59 workers at its 92,000-square-foot grow facility at 830 Wyandot St. in Denver. Azzalino told BusinessDen at the time that all dispensaries would close too.<\/p>\n<p>That will no longer happen, Azzalino said, although the company did close one dispensary in Glenwood Springs about a month ago, bringing its Colorado store count down to 16. Those will remain open when the new year arrives.<\/p>\n<p>Because Eaze is technically operating as a new company, Eaze Inc LLC, instead of the old Eaze Technologies LLC, all that was procedural, Azzalino said. He noted Eaze will need to hire about 350 employees and expects many of the current staff to be retained.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is a new and distinct company,\u201d Azzalino said. \u201cSo this is really us rehiring anew.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Nothing will markedly change outside of the shops getting \u201cface lifts,\u201d which will be done in phases through the first half of the year, Azzalino said.<\/p>\n<p>Green Dragon also will start delivering weed in 2025, he noted. Eaze launched in 2014 and calls itself a \u201cpioneer in cannabis delivery,\u201d so the move is on brand.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though it\u2019s been around, it hasn\u2019t really taken off in Colorado,\u201d Azzalino said.<\/p>\n<p>Eaze also operates in California, Michigan and Florida, and the company plans to continue operating 51 dispensaries, 11 delivery hubs and a Florida grow operation. It will hire 1,200 employees across the company, and it will double the Florida cultivation space from 32,000 square feet to 64,000, Azzalino said.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"related right\"> <\/aside>\n<p>Eaze acquired Green Dragon roughly three years ago, but in mid-2023, Green Dragon co-founders Lisa Leder, Andrew Levine and Alex Levine sued the company for fraud. They alleged Eaze misrepresented its finances in the lead up to the sale and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.denverpost.com\/2024\/11\/06\/green-dragon-founders-opening-fired-cannabis\/\">wrongfully fired the trio<\/a> in February 2023, court documents show. The case was dismissed months later in November for being in the wrong venue, they said.<\/p>\n<p>Andrew Levine filed another civil suit against Eaze on Aug. 6, records show. The suit aims to investigate whether Clark and board member Thomas Jermoluk conspired to acquire the company\u2019s assets at below-market value, according to trade publication Green Market Report. The case is ongoing.<\/p>\n<p>This story originally <a href=\"https:\/\/businessden.com\/\">published in businessden.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><\/div>\n<p>The retailer\u2019s parent company, California-based Eaze, got an infusion of $10 million from its owner. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5062,6811,7938,77,5577,6815,9,6882,5019,1,3,61,1736],"tags":[5063,6816,7939,2655,5580,6820,6883,5022],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10530"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10530\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cannitrol.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}