The large Multi-State Operator (MSO) TerrAscend Corp. plans to buy Union Chill Dispensary in Lambertville in Central Jersey, to be their 4th location in the state.
According to them, Union Chill in Hunterdon County generates over $11 million in annualized revenue. They’re making good money from Pennsylvanians crossing the Delaware River to buy legal adult-use cannabis.
Every Jersey dispensary doing so should be wary of the attempts of Pennsylvania to legalize adult-use cannabis via State-Owned stores.
According to them, Union Chill is well situated with limited competition within a 10-mile radius.
Union Chill Dispensary of Lambertville
Union Chill was established in June 2023. They have sought to self-promote with this goal likely in mind. They were the 3rd exclusively adult-use cannabis dispensary to open.
It has insisted on calling itself “woman-owned.” Laurie McHugh called herself a “co-founder” on LinkedIn. McHugh was from across the border in Pennsylvania. She sadly died in September 2023.
A man named Josh Canfield has talked about opening a Union Chill location in Corning, NY. On LinkedIn, he calls himself the Managing Partner and CEO of the company.
A lot of Mom-and-Pop dispensaries in Jersey are owned by Mom on paper and run by Pop.
Union Chill got a straight annual dispensary license. They somehow were able to beat conditional license winners like the micro dispensary Baked by the River to opening in Lambertville.
Conditional winners were supposed to be prioritized by the NJCRC.
If the deal is done, Union Chill will increase TerrAscend’s retail footprint to 39 dispensaries across five states and Canada.
TerrAscend Grows
“We see a clear opportunity to enhance sales and margins by introducing our portfolio of premium brands’, including Kind Tree, Legend, Valhalla, Cookies, and Wana,” said Jason Wild, Executive Chairman of TerrAscend.
“We are actively evaluating additional expansion opportunities in New Jersey. And expect to sign multiple additional transactions by the end of 2025,” he explained.
Nothing seems to be stopping them from doing so.
“We are also on track with the expansion of cultivation and manufacturing capacity at our Boonton facility. Ensuring we can meet the increased demand from both the expansion in our retail footprint as well as our growing wholesale business,” Wild added.
According to a 4/20 market report, Legend and Kind Tree are popular brands.
TerrAscend had three dispensaries under its medical license. They also have licenses to grow, make, and distribute cannabis products, known as vertical integration.
TerrAscend already has Apothecarium dispensaries in Phillipsburg on the PA border in Warren County in the Northwest, Maplewood in Essex County, and Lodi in Bergen County.
They were converted to adult-use cannabis sales in 2022.
The MSO TerrAscend and the Apothecarium Dispensary Chain
TerrAscend is a leading Toronto, Canada, Stock Exchange-listed cannabis company. They have vertically integrated operations in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Michigan, and California through TerrAscend Growth Corp. and retail operations in Canada.
TerrAscend operates The Apothecarium dispensary chain, Gage, and other dispensary locations, as well as scaled cultivation, processing, and manufacturing facilities.
They claimed that “TerrAscend’s cultivation and manufacturing practices yield consistent, high-quality cannabis.”
The company owns or licenses several businesses and brands. It includes Gage Cannabis, The Apothecarium dispensary chain, Cookies, Lemonnade, Ilera Healthcare, Kind Tree, Legend, State Flower, Wana, and Valhalla Confections.
They bragged this further solidifies their position in Jersey. The closing does remain subject to approval by the NJ Cannabis Regulatory Commission (NJCRC).
Dispensary Chains Growing
The MSOs seem to be enjoying the NJCRC and their rules to increase in size so far. The MSO Verano Zen Leaf has already hustled and opened its 4th location.
Many cannabis companies play a game. Person A owns 51 percent of License 1 and perhaps 49 percent of License 2 to create a chain. Person B can own 51 percent of License 2 and be a partner with Person A. Sometimes, Person C joins them, and the game goes on.
In stark contrast, Heady NJ has heard micro dispensaries are prohibited from being vertically integrated and getting cultivation sites by the NJCRC due to a quirk of red tape.
The NJCRC did fine TerrAscend thousands of dollars multiple times in 2023 for ignoring and disrespecting medical cannabis patients by making them buy off the adult-use cannabis menu.
A Public Relations specialist did not disclose how much it was sold for nor the details by the time of publication.
Heady NJ Columnist Chris Goldstein has argued that price gouging keeps medical cannabis prices artificially high. He believes this has caused the medical cannabis program to lose more than half of its peak number of patients.
Large corporate MSOs have dominated the New Jersey cannabis market for a very long time. The MSOs bought medical operations and used their influence to control the market under rules first implemented under former Governor Chris Christie (R).
It is only very slowly that New Jersey has seen independent cannabis operators open, including locals, minorities, and women.
This shows the problems with the State’s alleged ideals of Equity & Diversity not being funded and succumbing to Christie-era limited market protections continuing.
