California’s ‘Apple Store of weed’ declares bankruptcy with $410M in debt

MedMen was once the golden child of California’s legal cannabis market, opening sleek retail locations that mimicked the minimalism of Apple Stores and promising that it could sell massive amounts of cannabis by presenting the drug as a modern product without the baggage of prohibition. National media outlets like Esquire and Vanity Fair profiled the company, and it listed itself on a Canadian Securities Exchange in 2018.

The company’s $1.6 billion valuation allowed MedMen’s executives to spend lavishly, including purchasing luxury cars, expensive security details and private jets. The retailer opened locations in Beverly Hills and Fifth Avenue in New York City, one of the most expensive real estate locations in the world, even though New York state had yet to fully legalize cannabis. At its peak, it reported employed more than 1,300 people and had stores in seven states, including three in the Bay Area.

sfgate.com