Thomas Mitchell
Audio By Carbonatix
Colorado’s cannabis space has lost another popular and longtime retailer.
Eclipse Cannabis, operating at 933 Alpine Avenue since 2018, quietly closed its doors last week. The dispensary has not announced its closure or responded to inquiries, but several recreational cannabis vendors have confirmed the store is no longer operating. Eclipse’s listed phone number is not in service, and the store’s listing on Google has the dreaded “permanently closed” banner in red.
A key figure in reigniting Boulder’s retail cannabis scene after COVID, Eclipse gained a reputation in for stocking new and exciting growers, hash makers and infused joint brands. Thanks to a knowledgeable staff with deep roots in the Colorado cannabis scene, the dispensary was an effective launch pad for several award-winning cannabis brands in the early 2020s, including Bubba’s Kush, In House Melts and Red Roots Rolling Co.
“If you really want to see how your product does on the market, launch it at Eclipse. Their staff and customer base are very intelligent, so you’ll see where it stands really quick,” one cannabis marketing director said in 2023.
Differences between out-of-state ownership and the day-to-day staff led to the departure of several key figures at Eclipse within the past two years, however, and the dispensary began losing its luster among hash heads and regular shoppers. As with many other now-closed dispensaries in the Denver area, vendor bills started piling up and sales continued to fluctuate.
It’s a tough time for the industry; Colorado’s cannabis prices and production quality have both been sitting at rock bottom for about two years now. According to data from the state Department of Revenue, wholesale cannabis prices in Colorado are currently tied for their record low, at a median price of $649 per pound, while annual dispensary sales have steadily dipped since 2022, falling from $2.2 billion to slightly over $1.4 billion last year. From September of 2023 to September of this year, there was a 25 percent drop in the number of licensed marijuana cultivations even as the number of recreational dispensaries in Colorado stayed flat, DOR ownership records show.
Eclipse’s end follows the closure of other dispensaries that had been favored by weed snobs and the “heady” crowd around Denver and Boulder, like ACA (formerly A Cut Above), L’Eagle and Verde Natural. Hash House, a popular dispensary in Boulder under Verde ownership, also closed earlier this year.
