The shuttering of damaged retail stores is slowing or stopping altogether the flow of sales for producers and processors in some markets, which could lead to a stockpiling of product and falling wholesale cannabis prices.
“The whole supply chain has been disrupted and attacked,” said John Oram, CEO of Nug, a vertically integrated cannabis company with several locations in California.
“You can’t operate out of a lot of these smashed stores.”
Some markets, however, are less affected and continue to report strong demand for flower and other products – despite the store closures.
Dozens of cannabis retailers across the country were robbed in the early days of the protests after Floyd’s death in Minneapolis on May 25 while in police custody.
Some retail outlets were gutted to the point where it will take several weeks before they can reopen. Losses among retailers are estimated to total millions of dollars.