Schwazze to Buy Dispensaries in Fort Collins and Garden City

Schwazze, a publicly traded marijuana outfit based in Denver, is set to add two more Colorado dispensaries to its network of retail outlets.

Smokey's Cannabis Co., which has a dispensary in Fort Collins and one in Garden City, has agreed to a $7.5 million acquisition offer from Schwazze, according to a February 21 announcement, with $3.75 million paid in cash and $3.75 million in Schwazze stock.

Smokey's operated for nearly fifteen years in Fort Collins, where it was one of the town's first medical marijuana dispensaries. The store was founded in 2009 as Cannabis Care by Thomas Wilczynski, who then added another dispensary in Garden City; he changed the name of his business to Smokey's after recreational marijuana sales began in Colorado. 

After the purchase is approved by regulators, the two Smokey's stores will become Star Buds dispensaries. According to Schwazze, the stores will be the brand's 20th and 21st locations in Colorado. The company also owns Emerald Fields, a chain with six stores in this state, as well as New Mexico dispensaries and wholesale marijuana manufacturers in multiple states.

"We are excited to bring our Star Buds operations to Garden City and Fort Collins. Bringing our operating playbook to two key cities in northern Colorado allows us to deliver our brands, product assortment and our dedicated service to customers in new neighborhoods as we continue to go deep in the state," Schwazze president Nirup Krishnamurthy says in a statement.

Smokey's also owns a cultivation in Garden City, according to Colorado Marijuana Enforcement records, but that wasn't included in the deal.

The Smokey's acquisition gives Schwazze an entry into two communities with large college populations: Fort Collins, home of Colorado State University, and Greeley, home to the University of Northern Colorado. While Greeley doesn't allow retail pot sales, Garden City is just across city limits.

Over the past two years, Schwazze has purchased, opened or agreed to acquire 41 dispensaries, seven growing operations and two infused-product facilities, the announcement notes. The acquisition is expected to be approved by local and state regulators sometime in the second quarter of this year.