50 workers are losing their jobs at the plant Vireo didn't buy

The Cannabist Company filed a WARN notice with Colorado's labor department on July 14 confirming it will close its Denver cultivation and manufacturing facility and cut 50 jobs, with layoffs starting Sept. 11. Affected workers keep base pay and benefits for the full 60-day notice period.

The site at 4750 Nome St. has history — it was once home to Medicine Man, one of Colorado's best-known early cannabis brands, before Columbia Care (Cannabist's predecessor) bought it in 2021. Its closure lands almost exactly as Cannabist finalizes a deal to sell up to 25 dispensaries plus separate cultivation and production assets across five other states to Vireo Growth for as much as $35 million.

The two moves are part of the same story: Cannabist filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protection in Delaware in March, carrying roughly $270 million in debt to lenders and the IRS, and it's now working through which assets get sold intact and which get shut down outright. The Denver facility, notably, isn't part of the Vireo deal — it's just closing.

For Colorado operators, one more cultivation license effectively leaves the market. For anyone watching the broader MSO shakeout, it's a reminder that "restructuring" doesn't always mean a soft landing for every facility or every worker — some of it is just closure.