ManifestSeven Expands into Southern California’s Market

California is on track to post a record $3.1 billion in legal cannabis sales this year, according to Arcview Market Research and BDS Analytics, despite troublingly high taxes and licensing challenges that make it difficult to compete with black market products. By comparison, the same analysts expect Canada’s entire market to bring in just $1.1 billion this year, making the single state’s market nearly three times larger.

ManifestSeven, formerly known as MJIC, is building California’s first integrated omni-channel platform for legal cannabis, merging compliant distribution with a retail superhighway. The goal is to transform the cannabis purchasing experience from an antiquated cash-only retail visit to a streamlined buying experience that mirrors that of Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) — and it’s starting in densely populated Orange County.

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In this article, we will take a look at ManifestSeven’s focus on Orange County and why it makes an excellent springboard to capitalize on the entire state market.

Starting with Distribution

ManifestSeven began its move into Southern California by establishing a Long Beach distribution facility earlier this year. In early April, the company was granted a temporary license by the State of California Bureau of Cannabis Control in connection with the facility, which is designed to serve as its Southern California distribution hub serving Los Angeles, San Diego and other cities within Orange County.

The new facility will connect its Northern California operations in Brisbane and Oakland with Southern California, helping it reach the vast majority of the state. The company estimates in its investor presentation that its hubs will be able to service almost 90%  of California’s population or about 35 million people across ten major markets there. That’s equivalent to a licensed producer achieving 94% Canadian penetration.

The company’s long-term goal is to become the Amazon.com of the cannabis industry by merging distribution with a seamless retail platform to simplify the purchasing experience.

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Building a B2C Presence 

Orange County is the sixth most populous county in the United States and boasts one of the country’s highest median incomes. With beautiful beaches and temperate climate year-round, it’s also an extremely popular tourist destination, attracting millions of visitors every year. These attributes make it an attractive location to start building a cannabis retail and distribution network that will eventually stretch across the state.

In August, the company acquired the Haven dispensary in Santa Ana — the only municipality in Orange County to issue cannabis retail licenses. This has since been rebranded to Weden, M7’s fully integrated retail arm, with this particular dispensary to serve as the flagship location.

The Weden business-to-consumer brand encompasses brick-and-mortar retail and delivery operations throughout the region, via a sophisticated e-commerce site and its 1-800-CANNABIS customer service center.

Weden Santa Ana owns one of just 30 allowable licenses permitting adult-use cannabis sales, as well as a provisional retail license issued by the State of California Bureau of Cannabis Control. With its proximity to four major freeways, the dispensary offers convenient access to the safest, highest-quality cannabis products to more than two million residents over the age of 21, as well as on-demand delivery and subscriptions.

The retail dispensary and its existing customer base dovetails nicely with the company’s existing cannabis delivery service and MyJane subscription service, which enables customers to easily become repeat buyers without having to physically visit a dispensary location — including customers that may visit the dispensary on vacation before returning home elsewhere in the state where dispensaries may not exist.

ManifestSeven, via its real estate investment vehicle Vicinity, has also recently completed the acquisition of the Santa Ana property. The sale-leaseback deal frees up critical working capital for M7 and is allowing the company to forge ahead with further expansion.

Looking Ahead

ManifestSeven is well-positioned to reach almost every corner of California with its distribution, retail and delivery services. As the company gears up to go public on the CSE, investors may want to follow these developments over the coming months.

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About Ryan Allway

Mr. Allway has over a decade of experience in the financial markets as both a private investor and financial journalist. He has been actively involved in the cannabis industry since its inception, covering public and private companies.