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After legacy market exodus, 4Front plans 10 Illinois stores by 2025

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After legacy market exodus, 4Front plans 10 Illinois stores by 2025


Since divesting its retail operations in Michigan and exiting the California market as part of its strategic reset, 4Front Ventures Corp. (OTCQX: FFNTF) has charted its path in newer regions, company executives said in a fourth-quarter 2023 earnings call.

Illinois

The multi-state cannabis operator is banking on its Matteson facility in Illinois to drive growth, with plans to gradually ramp up production capacity starting in the third quarter of 2024 and reaching full capacity by early 2025.

“By early 2025, it’s going to come online kind of one room at a time according to a schedule, as fast as we can safely bring it online,” operations VP Brandon Mills told investors on a call this week.

While management is optimistic about its expansion plans in Illinois, CEO Andrew Thut noted that the company remains cautious about the overall competitive landscape, given the tight capital conditions in the industry over the past three years.

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By the end of 2023, 4Front had two retail locations in Illinois — South Chicago and Calumet City. The company plans to open its third Illinois store in Norridge in May 2024, followed by a fourth location in Elston/Logan in the fourth quarter of 2024. Mills said the aim is to expand the retail footprint to 10 stores by 2025 through organic openings and strategic acquisitions.

Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, the shift is to focus on expanding its wholesale presence after heavily relying on its own retail outlets, such as its Brookline store, which has faced challenges due to increased competition in the area.

“We have had successes on wholesale, but the rubber’s just meeting the road,” Thut said, adding that he expects a “huge year for wholesale in Massachusetts.”

Last year, the Massachusetts market experienced price declines in flower (12.5% year-over-year) and derivative products like vape and edibles (approximately 15%). However, the price declines have stabilized late in the fourth quarter of 2023 and early 2024.

As 4Front’s manufacturing capabilities come online in May, the company is prioritizing its in-house brands before engaging in formal third-party supply agreements, according to Mills.

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The company’s balance sheet has seen recent improvements, including the conversion of $23 million in debt to equity. However, Thut acknowledged further access to capital markets is crucial to fund 4Front’s retail expansion plans in Illinois.

One way to stash more money away might be to follow in the footsteps of some of its peers in the industry when it comes to the 280E tax provision, which has burdened cannabis companies with hefty tax bills. The firm said it plans to pursue all avenues to secure eligible refunds.

Karl Chowscano, Consulting President at 4Front, said, “We clearly are aware of the trend, and I don’t want to say that we were suggesting that this should be the case about a year and a half ago almost, but we were. We will be actively pursuing all of our options in terms of the most efficient way for us to file taxes as well as to get any refunds, both from the state and federal perspective that we can.”



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Illinois

Evansville’s Ben Humrichous commits to Illinois

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Evansville’s Ben Humrichous commits to Illinois


Illinois needs some size in the worst way, and it picked up a big frontcourt presence.

Evansville’s Ben Humrichous (pronounced Hum-Rick-House) committed to the Illini with one year of eligibility remaining, according to an Instagram post Tuesday night.

The 6-foot-9 forward began his collegiate career at Huntington University (NAIA) in Indiana before transferring to Evansville last season. He’s a native of Tipton, Ind., just north of Indianapolis.

Take a look at some highlights below:

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Humrichous averaged 14.9 points and 4.7 rebounds per game last season for the Purple Aces, finishing 42% from three (on 82 attempts, so not a small sample size). He scored a season-high 29 points in a game against Chattanooga.

Not a high-major prospect, but definitely some upside there, especially once Fletch and Orlando Antigua get a look at him.



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Countdown to cicadas in Illinois

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Countdown to cicadas in Illinois


Countdown to cicadas in Illinois – CBS Chicago

Watch CBS News


Are you ready? The cicadas are on the way for Illinois.

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New report lists 5 Illinois cities among worst to get high in across the US

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New report lists 5 Illinois cities among worst to get high in across the US


Illinois is dominating a new report about the best places to blaze it up across the country – but not how you might think.

Recreational cannabis was legalized for adult use in different states in 2023 and to catalog the growth of cannabis tourism, LawnStarter’s latest report ranks the Best Cities to Get Stoned in 2024.

They also prepared a list for the worst cities to get stoned in the U.S., where Illinois captured half the spots.

The online platform that allows to reserve lawn care and mowing services through its website doubles online as a dataset collector, compiling data collected by the company to create studies covering anything from vacation rentals to hiking cities.

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Here’s a breakdown of the report.

How did Illinois do?

According to the report, five cities out of ten are from Illinois for the worst cities to get high in, with Cicero the third worst city in the country.

The other Illinois cities that cracked the list include Elgin (5th worst), Bloomington (7th worst), Springfield (9th worst) and Rockford (10th worst).

Chicago was the highest ranked city in Illinois to get high in, according to the report, at No. 38.

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More: New report finds air quality in Springfield, surrounding areas is getting worse

Methodology used

According to LawnStarter, the metrics to rank each city were first determined as six categories: access, consumer satisfaction, convenience, lounging, entertainment and munchie relief.

After the six categories were chosen, each was assigned a weight based on importance for the stoned experience. Access to dispensaries was weighted highest on the list, with munchies relief weighing the least.

Data was collected from 292 cities across the country before final calculations scored each city out of 100 points to determine its rank in each factor and overall. The score is the average of the city’s scores combined.

Best places to get high?

Here’s a look at the best places, according to the report:

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  1. Los Angeles, California
  2. San Francisco, California
  3. Las Vegas, Nevada
  4. Denver, Colorado
  5. New York, New York

Claire Grant writes about business, growth and development and other news topics for the State Journal-Register. She can be reached at CLGrant@gannett.com; and on X (Formerly known as Twitter): @Claire_Granted



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