This story was republished with permission from Crain’s Chicago.
A marijuana grower and retailer from Western Illinois is expanding its presence in Chicago, buying three Okay Cannabis stores.
Nature’s Grace & Wellness bought the dispensaries in West Town, Evanston and Wheeling from a group that includes Chicago restaurateurs Scott Weiner and Greg Mohr, along with former Chicago Alderman Ameya Pawar.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it brings together one of the earliest entrants into the Illinois cannabis industry with one of the newest.
The O’Hern family, who run a large cattle farm near McComb, was awarded one of the original cultivation licenses when Illinois legalized cannabis for medical use in 2014. They later added a pair of dispensaries in Peoria under the Trinity brand.
The company also operates Bud & Rita’s dispensaries in Avondale and Niles under a managed-services agreement with plans to acquire the stores. It plans to open another store in Wadsworth.
Okay Cannabis was among the winners of new retail licenses issued in lotteries after Illinois began recreational marijuana sales in 2020. The company had the capital to quickly turn its licenses into stores, which proved to be a challenge for lottery winners facing a pandemic and a retreat by cannabis investors.
The sale signals that some of the newly issued dispensary licenses are beginning to change hands. The Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation did not allow lottery winners to sell their conditional licenses before standing up a physical storefront. So far, 129 of 227 new licenses have become operating dispensaries.
“We are thrilled to welcome Okay Cannabis into the Nature’s Grace & Wellness family,” President Timothy O’Hern said in a statement. “This acquisition allows us to combine our strengths and enhance the overall customer experience for our customers at Okay while vastly increasing the quantity and variety of cannabis products available in the dispensaries.”
As co-owners of Fifty/50 Group, which operates several Chicago-area restaurants, Weiner and Mohr brought something unique to the traditional playbook of selling weed, combining a restaurant, bar and consumption lounge at its Wheeling store. In Evanston, they paired a dispensary with a bakery. Its West Town store is near a restaurant and bar.
“We are excited about this new chapter for OKAY Cannabis,” Pawar said in a statement. “We developed and opened three amazing, first-of-its-kind dispensaries in just over one year.
“When we recognized that we needed to be vertically integrated to truly take the business to the next growth stage, we wanted to find a buyer who aligned with many of our own core values and beliefs.”
O’Hern says Nature’s Grace & Wellness took over management of the dispensaries in early June. The acquisition gives Nature’s Grace seven stores toward its goal of 10, which is the limit under state law.
“While we had many interested suitors, we felt a connection to the O’Hern family, and we are confident that Nature’s Grace & Wellness will take Okay to greater heights,” Weiner said in a statement.
The sale signals that some of the newly issued dispensary licenses are beginning to change hands. Read More
