One of Colorado’s best-known cannabis chains is about to look very different at street level. Native Roots, long a heavyweight in the state’s marijuana retail scene, has agreed to sell most of its storefronts to investment firm Verdant Capital Partners, a move that signals just how tough the local market has become.
The deal covers 17 of Native Roots’ 21 Colorado stores and still needs state licensing approvals and other standard closing sign-offs before it is final. Under the proposed structure, Native Roots keeps running its cultivation and manufacturing facilities, while Verdant would take the wheel at most of the retail locations. Several people familiar with the situation say corporate-level staffing cuts have already started as part of the transition.
In a press release distributed via PR Newswire, Verdant Capital Partners said it has entered a definitive agreement to acquire Native Roots’ retail operations, a portfolio that includes seventeen Colorado dispensaries. Executives from both companies said the transaction "provides a path forward" for the business and its retail employees, while stressing that the deal hinges on regulatory approval. Verdant said its leadership bench is stocked with industry veterans and noted it was advised by Gordian Group and outside counsel. No purchase price or other financial terms were disclosed.
Local coverage by Westword points out that Native Roots was founded in Denver 17 years ago and now lists 21 locations statewide, with eleven in the Denver metro area alone. According to Westword, Verdant partner Myles Peck said four of those locations are still "under evaluation" as part of the diligence and transition process. The outlet also reports that Native Roots’ cultivation and manufacturing operations were carved out of the deal and will remain under the existing company’s control.
Colorado market squeeze
The timing of the sale is not exactly a mystery to anyone watching Colorado’s marijuana numbers. Data from the Colorado Department of Revenue show retail dispensary sales sliding from roughly $1.77 billion in 2022 to about $1.10 billion through October 2025. At the same time, the DOR reports that median wholesale flower prices hit record lows late last year, pinching margins up and down the supply chain.
Industry watchers say that the combination of softer sales and cheaper wholesale products is fueling a wave of consolidation among retailers and drawing more private capital into mature markets like Colorado. In other words, what is happening to Native Roots is starting to look less like an exception and more like the new normal for big cannabis chains in the state.
Staffing and ownership history
Several now-former Native Roots employees told Westword that corporate-level job cuts have already rippled through the company as the sale talks progressed, a sign that operational changes are not waiting for closing day. Those staffing moves land on top of an already rocky ownership history.
According to Westword, Native Roots’ partners have spent years in court fighting each other over control of the business, culminating in a 2022 Denver court decision that vacated an arbitration award of roughly $100 million. The long-running disputes have created a complicated governance backdrop for the chain, which now heads into a major ownership transition while still carrying the scars of those internal battles.
What to watch next
Verdant has emphasized in its release that the acquisition still depends on license transfers and other customary closing conditions, and that regulators must sign off before the retail portfolio officially changes hands. Until that happens, the deal is more promise than a done deal.
The firm says its immediate focus will be stabilizing day-to-day retail operations and hanging on to the staff it needs to run the 17 stores it plans to operate. How smoothly that integration goes, and what ultimately happens to the four locations still under review, will likely determine whether this big bet on a legacy Colorado brand pays off or becomes another cautionary tale from a crowded cannabis market.
