There Are Now Over 15,000 Cannabis Dispensaries in the U.S. -- Including Many That Have Been Developed Via Adaptive Reuse

Cannabis operators have repurposed many types of commercial real estate as dispensaries including former Big Box retail stores, grocery stores, office buildings and bank branches

Marijuana remains an illegal substance under federal law, but cannabis is now legal in 39 of 50 states for medical use and in 24 states for recreational use.

So it may not be a surprise that there are now over 15,000 cannabis dispensaries in the U.S.

And that 79% of Americans live in a county where there is at least one cannabis shop.

But one interesting feature about this influx of cannabis shops?

Many were developed via the adaptive reuse of vacant commercial real estate.

So on the unofficial “4/20” cannabis holiday, let’s highlight four unique examples of repurposed dispensaries in multiple states.

These include a former Big Box retail store, a shuttered grocery store, a 1920s-era office building and a suburban bank branch.

1) Babies R Us to Ascend Cannabis

Ascend Cannabis converted a former Babies R Us in Fairview Heights, Illinois into a dispensary.

It is the largest of Ascend's ~40 dispensaries in 7 states and serves 1,000+ customers per day.

But it is likely one of many current and future repurposed cannabis shops for the Company as Ascend has 10 new stores in development and expected to open soon.

2) ALDI to Levels Cannabis

ALDI opened its first U.S. store in 1976 and now operates more than 2,400 grocery stores throughout the U.S.

But in recent years ALDI has also been relocating older, smaller stores into larger, better located suites.

Vacated former ALDI stores are now being repurposed for other uses.

Like this cannabis shop in Michigan.

3) Former Schuylkill Trust Office Building to BEYOND/HELLO Cannabis

Jushi Holdings, a vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator, converted the ground floor of the former Schuylkill Trust office building in Pottsville, Pennsylvania to a BEYOND/HELLO Cannabis dispensary.

The building was originally built for Schuylkill Trust in 1923 and is a “small-town skyscraper” with six stories of offices above a banking hall at the "main and main" intersection in downtown Pottsville.

BEYOND/HELLO took great care to blend its modern retail style with the classic features of the office building and former bank space.

4) Wells Fargo bank branch to High Street Dispensary

High Street Dispensary converted a former Wells Fargo bank branch located across the street from the U.S. HQ of the Mars Wrigley Confectionary Company in Hackettstown, New Jersey into a cannabis shop.

The retail operation opened for business in December 2023.

In March 2024 Hackettstown officials approved the dispensary's request to use the former bank drive-thru window for cannabis sales.

Now High Street operates a single lane drive-thru that opens 1/2 hour before and closes 1/2 hour after normal business hours and dispenses pre-orders place on the store's website.