Category: Features

Bob Phibbs, “The Retail Doctor,” will be the keynote speaker at the Retail and Dispensary (RAD) Expo at the Oregon Convention Center in October.

Is your business special? Sure it is! Just like a homeowner who puts his or her house on the market and expects that it will achieve a premium value because it is “special,” almost every business owner thinks their business should achieve a multiple of value in excess of the…

In the increasingly competitive cannabis industry, finding efficiencies, streamlining processes, recognizing trends and targeting the right consumers is becoming more important with every new state that creates a marijuana marketplace. But that means sifting through data, which can be daunting to farmers and retailers alike, and then putting it into…

At night, the parking lot at Local Roots is flooded by twenty-somethings posing with their cars for Instagram photos in front of the pulsating LED lights. “I’ve had a full-on car show pull up here in the middle of the night,” says Rahn Bruns, the company’s 33-year-old founding director and…

Are you considering a multi-store launch? Opening additional locations? Testing a new retail concept? Launching a robust e-commerce site? Any one of these approaches to growth requires a rigorous process of developing plans, exploring real estate or web hosting opportunities, evaluating systems, identifying mid-management talent, lining up financing and so…

The legalization of hemp-derived CBD and of marijuana extracts for medical and recreational purposes in many U.S. states and all of Canada has led to significant growth in the CBD/THC extraction and distillation equipment sector. Many manufacturers of this equipment have been in business for a number of years, and…

It’s hardly a secret: Every nursery and greenhouse operation has felt the pinch of chronic labor shortages. Finding and keeping people to perform repetitive, labor-intensive tasks has been a constant strain on the profit margins of the horticulture industry — and the backs of workers. A lack of labor, combined…

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, counterfeiting should be quite the compliment. But in the cannabis industry, like other industries, counterfeiting not only hurts a company’s bottom line, but also weakens the value of their intellectual property, exposes them to reputation risk and puts them in the crosshairs…

Since receiving a state license in 2015, Sticky Budz has been operating a cannabis farm in unincorporated Yakima County, Washington, and selling flower, pre-rolls, topicals and other items statewide. But now, owner Jamie Muffett is fighting for the right to continue running the business in its current location, as are…

Trademark practitioners, hemp growers and hemp-derived product manufacturers have long struggled with the clash of federal and state laws regarding protection of trademarks. Historically, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has refused registration of marks that include cannabis, hemp, CBD or other derived products on the basis that these…