Couche-Tard’s Florida dispensary deal awaits regulatory approval

Dive Brief:

Alimentation Couche-Tard’s agreement to co-locate 10 Green Thumb Industries Rise Express cannabis dispensaries adjacent to Circle K convenience stores in Florida is still awaiting government approval and is currently in litigation, according to a Friday report from MJBizDaily.
Couche-Tard’s and Green Thumb Industries’ co-located stores initially were expected to begin appearing this year but still need approval from Florida’s medical cannabis regulator before the companies can proceed, according to MJBizDaily’s interview with a Florida health department spokesperson.
The U.S. government, meanwhile, is reviewing marijuana’s status as a schedule 1 drug that doesn’t have any accepted medical uses and a high probability for abuse, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

Dive Insight:

While changing marijuana’s classification at the federal level would make it easier for companies to sell cannabis-based products, it may not impact Circle K’s agreement with Green Thumb, which is facing state regulations.

“As with all Rise dispensary locations in Florida, the opening of Rise Express stores remains subject to regulatory approval,” a Green Thumb spokesperson told MJBizDaily.

The Florida health department spokesperson whom MJBizDaily interviewed confirmed that the agreement is in litigation, and that the department’s status on the deal has not changed since the two companies’ agreement last October.

If approved, the agreement will allow Green Thumb to lease space from Circle K in Florida, where the retailer operates about 600 c-stores. The Rise Express locations are expected to sell products, such as flower, gummies and vapes. The companies did not specify which Circle K stores might get the dispensaries.

“This agreement to lease adjacent space to our stores in Florida mirrors what we are currently doing with co-located stores in Canada with strategic partner Fire & Flower,” Jennifer Vincent, senior manager of global communications for Couche-Tard, said in a previous interview with C-Store Dive.

Some of the Fiire & Flower locations are already open for customers.

Circle K is not the only c-store company looking at adding marijuana products. Jackson BevCo, a subsidiary of Jacksons Food Stores, announced last December it would be adding co-located marijuana shops at select sites in Washington, Oregon and Arizona.

Neither Couche-Tard nor Green Thumb Industries responded to by press time to an inquiry for details on the slowdown of its agreement.