Ceres to Shutter Vermont Cannabis Shops Amid Bankruptcy

Ceres Collaborative, the first legal cannabis shop to open in Burlington, is planning to close after its parent company declared bankruptcy, Vermont regulators said on Monday.

The College Street store, which opened on October 1, 2022, is one of several licensed Vermont cannabis facilities owned by SLANG Worldwide. Since declaring bankruptcy in November, the Toronto-based, publicly traded company has been winding down operations, first in Colorado and now in Vermont.

It closed CeresMed South, its Brattleboro medical cannabis store, last Thursday. Another, in South Burlington, will close “in the coming weeks and months,” as will the Burlington shop and a production and grow facility in Milton, according to the Vermont Cannabis Control Board, which regulates the industry.

The closure will be the second in Burlington in recent months. Grass Queen, a woman-owned store on South Union Street, closed in October, citing the expenses involved with running a cannabis business in Vermont and the high number of retailers in Burlington.

Even with the closures, about a dozen stores are still open in the Queen City.

Mikel Rutherford, SLANG’s chief financial officer, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

The company entered the Vermont marketplace in 2021, when it merged with CeresMED, which operated two medical cannabis stores: Champlain Valley Dispensary and Southern Vermont Wellness. The owner of those businesses, Shayne Lynn, later sued SLANG, saying the company had “hoodwinked” him by overstating its financial health.

A judge tossed that suit in March.

SLANG was the first in Vermont to obtain an integrated license, which enabled it to grow, wholesale, test, manufacture and sell cannabis. The state has only issued three such licenses.