An Aspen-based cannabis chain that once talked about becoming a statewide powerhouse is now in triage. A Denver judge has handed control of Silverpeak’s Colorado stores to a court-appointed receiver after the company disclosed it is insolvent and at least $13 million in the red. The order keeps seven retail locations open while a receiver markets the business, talks to potential buyers and tries to squeeze enough cash from operations to cover debts and mounting legal bills. Silverpeak’s attorney told the court that revenue at the stores has dropped to roughly half of what it used to be, leaving the company struggling to keep up.
Judge Kandace Gerdes signed an emergency order that “the appointment of a receiver is necessary to protect (Silverpeak)’s assets and to market and sell those assets,” as reported by BusinessDen. The court tapped Chris Harff of Highline Financial in Lone Tree to take over for $325 an hour until a sale closes and state regulators sign off. Harff’s task is to keep the doors open, the staff paid and the shelves stocked while the business is shopped around.
Silverpeak’s current owners bought the Aspen flagship in 2019 and set out to plant the brand across Colorado, according to local coverage. The Aspen Times detailed Chapman Ducote’s role in that acquisition and the early expansion pitch. The playbook has not aged well. The company walked away from a Basalt cultivation facility in 2024 and is now fighting a breach-of-lease lawsuit that seeks roughly $20 million, Aspen Daily News has reported.
All of this is unfolding as Colorado’s legal marijuana market is shrinking. State data show annual cannabis sales peaked at about $2.2 billion in 2021 and slid to roughly $1.3 billion in 2025. Axios notes that prices have fallen to record lows, squeezing wholesale margins across the industry. Coverage in MJBizDaily points to rising leverage and thinning profits as a recipe for receiverships like Silverpeak’s, especially for regional chains that loaded up on debt during the boom years.
Legal implications
On top of the operational slide, Silverpeak is under pressure from its main lender. Bay Point Capital says the company defaulted on secured debt and pegs the outstanding balance at about $18.6 million, while Silverpeak’s own court filings acknowledge default and at least $13 million owed. BusinessDen detailed the lender’s claim and the filings that led to the receivership request. The Basalt breach-of-lease dispute and three other pending lawsuits sit in the background, adding to the pile of potential liabilities that the receiver will have to sort through before any sale can close.
What comes next
The receiver’s mandate is straightforward on paper and messy in practice: stabilize the stores, preserve what value is left and find a buyer who can clear Colorado’s regulatory review. The seven-shop portfolio and the cultivation asset have already been pitched to prospective buyers in earlier marketing efforts, and brokers are expected to test the market again while Harff works to steady cash flow and operations. For regulars, at least in the short term, the plan is business as usual. The locations are expected to stay open under court supervision while the future of the Silverpeak brand is hammered out behind the scenes.
