For a long time, Olivia Alexander defended MedMen. Despite the pushback she got for partnering with the cannabis chain that some worried would box out smaller brands, Alexander — who founded Kush Queen, which sells cannabis-infused bath bombs and personal lubricant — valued the retailer's dedication to stocking shelves with products from small, women-owned lines.
"Even though they're a big company, they support small brands," she recalled telling people. "They're good for our industry." Now she thinks the opposite.
In March, the retailer that had been valued at over a billion and a half dollars when it went public on the Canadian stock exchange six years ago was deep into a cataclysmic downfall. A few weeks later, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada, disclosing it had more than $400 million in liabilities. In Los Angeles County, meanwhile, a Superior Court judge has appointed an attorney to oversee the liquidation of the company's California subsidiary.
MedMen owes money not only to big legal, accounting and real estate firms, but also vendors like Alexander who supplied the retailer with products that filled its shelves. Fed up with what she said had become an open secret in the industry, Alexander fired off a LinkedIn post at the end of last year accusing MedMen of failing to pay a $1,560 invoice for merchandise she'd delivered to them. More than a 100 people commented, including several other entrepreneurs, who said the retail chain owed them money too — often thousands of dollars.
Read more at latimes.com