In Lean Times for Marijuana Market, Staying Local Pays Off

Cannabis companies are learning that to survive the pandemic, bigger isn’t necessarily better.

Specialized operations and a narrow geographic footprint are buoying marijuana providers such as Trulieve Cannabis Corp. at a time when the broader industry is struggling with falling demand and capital constraints. That’s a shift from a few years ago, when exuberance in the market pushed cannabis companies to expand their reach across the nation in a hasty land grab, which has left many onetime heavyweights overextended.

Companies with a broader reach got “punished” last quarter, said Joe Caltabiano, a cannabis entrepreneur who recently left the company ...