MN Monthly Puff: Minnesota Cannabis Sales 2026: $250M Year One
Top Headlines This Month
- 📈 $250 million in cannabis sales during year one
- 📈 3,541 applicants, 396 licenses issued by October 5
- 💼 Fond du Lac Band breaks ground on Duluth store
- ✅ Nearly 200-pound cannabis seizure brings Forest Lake charges
Minnesota cannabis sales wrapped up their first full year of adult-use retail, and the numbers tell the story: $250 million rung up across adult-use and medical, with 369 licensed businesses now in the mix. The state’s application pipeline keeps swelling, a tribal band is planting a flag in downtown Duluth, and a Forest Lake case shows the legal market still rubbing up against the illicit one. Here’s where things stand in October 2026.
📈 MINNESOTA: CANNABIS SALES REACH $250 MILLION IN FIRST YEAR OF ADULT-USE
Minnesota cannabis retailers logged $250 million in sales during the first year of non-tribal adult-use marijuana sales, according to figures the Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management published September 15. Adult-use cannabis accounted for $150 million and medical cannabis for $100 million, across 1.2 million combined transactions. The state now counts 369 licensed cannabis businesses, with more than 300 new businesses launched since sales began at the two existing medical operations, Green Goods (run by Vireo Growth) and Rise (owned by Green Thumb Industries). Social equity applicants hold 43% of those 369 licenses, and verified social equity businesses received 86% of cultivation, manufacturing, retail and mezzobusiness licenses. Supply has climbed sharply, because 102 license holders now carry permits to grow 486,720 plants, up from 11 operators and 72,083 plants during the 2025 supply crunch. Flower led product sales, with median adult-use flower at $13.54 per gram and medical flower at $9.17 per gram.
The totals follow a slow start in 2025, when a shortage of licensed cultivation space left many retailers with bare shelves. Minnesota’s medical program now has more than 90,000 registered patients, a count that has more than doubled since the Legislature eliminated patient fees in 2023 and expanded qualifying conditions in 2024. Nearly three-quarters of license holders are microbusinesses, the state’s smallest license category.
📈 MINNESOTA: OCM DATA SHOWS 3,541 CANNABIS APPLICANTS AND 396 LICENSES ISSUED
The Minnesota Office of Cannabis Management reported 3,541 applicants across all cannabis license types as of October 5, with 396 cannabis business licenses issued. Microbusinesses accounted for the largest share of activity, with 1,854 applications and 288 licenses issued. OCM describes the figures as preliminary, so the counts will shift as the agency continues processing applications. The data covers the full range of cannabis license categories the state is building out under its adult-use program.
The gap between applicants and issued licenses reflects where most businesses sit in the pipeline. Applicants who are denied have 10 days to request reconsideration of their application, and those who receive preliminary approval have 18 months to complete local government approvals, final plans of record, and pre-licensure inspection. That 18-month runway means many preliminarily approved businesses will not reach a storefront opening until well into 2027 and beyond.
Source:
https://mn.gov/ocm/data-reports/application-data/index.jsp
💼 DULUTH: FOND DU LAC BAND PLANS THIRD ANANG CANNABIS STORE DOWNTOWN
The Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa will open its third retail cannabis store in downtown Duluth in early 2027, on tribal land behind its Fond-du-Luth Casino. The $2 million project will bring Anang Native Cannabis Co.’s raw cannabis, infused gummies, hand-rolled joints and more into a 2,000-square-foot store an alley away from the casino, and the location will offer delivery service. The company already runs a dispensary at Fond du Lac Gas & Grocery in Cloquet and the Anang Tasting Lounge & Dispensary behind Black Bear Casino in Carlton, so the Duluth site will be its first in the city. The band marked the plan with a ceremonial groundbreaking and expects the store to add 25 jobs to the 55 band members who already work in roles ranging from agriculture to sales. Anang Native Cannabis Co., tribally owned and operated, launched in May 2025, and its name means ‘star’ in Ojibwe.
The store joins a handful of retail cannabis shops in Duluth, a market that started with Legacy Cannabis when it opened its Lincoln Park location in September 2025. The band bought the downtown property in 2010, and it had sat as a parking lot since the Carter Hotel on the site was demolished in 2018, so the modular storefront puts a long-vacant lot facing North Second Avenue East back into commercial use.
✅ FOREST LAKE: DRUG CHARGES FOLLOW NEARLY 200-POUND CANNABIS SEIZURE
Gregory Colbert faces two counts of first-degree drug possession in Forest Lake, Minnesota, after the West Metro Drug Task Force searched his home in December 2025. The task force began looking into Colbert in October 2025 after an informant reported that he was selling cannabis through a website, meeting customers at a Speedway gas station, and sourcing inventory through runs to Michigan. The search warrant turned up nearly 200 pounds of cannabis flower, 8,671 THC vape cartridges, 6,733 pre-rolled joints, 344 THC edible packages, and 5,200 grams of THC concentrate and wax, according to the criminal complaint. Officials estimated the total value of the THC products at around $754,000. The complaint also describes scales, a computer actively displaying a live product menu, and a large amount of gold coins, gold bars, U.S. currency, and expensive jewelry found inside the house. The two counts stem from possessing more than 50 kilos of cannabis flower and more than 10 kilos of cannabis concentrate.
The charges state that Colbert is now licensed to sell cannabis in Minnesota, so a seller inside the state’s legal retail system is tied to an alleged unlicensed supply chain reaching back to Michigan. That mix of licensed status and off-book sourcing shows how state regulators and local task forces are still sorting out who moves product through legal channels and who operates outside them.
💼 THIS MONTH’S CANNABIS DEALS
CannDev has access to various real estate locations for groups looking to place licenses.
We also just got access to revenue predictions from BDSA. Which is exciting for a new market like this, and at least indicative of the potential of each location.
Take a closer look at each of the sites below, in order of potential revenue.
Saint Paul ($4,745,000/yr predicted revenue)
A standalone Twin Cities building on a retail corridor (19,080 daily vehicles) with strong co-tenancy, and it carries Minnesota’s highest BDSA-predicted revenue of any of our published MN deals. Has a purchase option we are assigning.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $4,745,000/year, #1 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 1,496,441 (#1 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $96,659 (#4 of 10 in MN)
- Licensing: Uncapped market, no license cap
Faribault ($3,285,000/yr predicted revenue)
A 2,838 sq ft downtown space on Faribault’s highest-traffic segment (10,221 daily vehicles), with 1 of the city’s 3 allowed cannabis licenses still available.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $3,285,000/year, #2 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 118,828 (#5 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $90,237 (#5 of 10 in MN)
- Licensing: Capped market, city allows 3 licenses, 1 currently available
Bemidji ($2,190,000/yr predicted revenue)
A 2,000 sq ft end-cap unit on a 14,239-vehicle/day corridor with 5 of the city’s 6 cannabis registrations still unclaimed and a fast 45 to 60 day permit process.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $2,190,000/year, tied #3 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 55,138 (#8 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $70,291 (#10 of 10 in MN, lowest in the state)
- Licensing: Capped market, 6 registrations total, 5 still available
Elk River ($2,190,000/yr predicted revenue)
A 3,102 sq ft freestanding building on a 35,000+ vehicle/day highway that comes with CannDev’s already-secured local approval and license path in a capped 3-license market. Note: Location can be relocated.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $2,190,000/year, tied #3 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 400,650 (#3 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $109,888 (#1 of 10 in MN, highest income of any Minnesota deal)
- Licensing: Capped market, only 3 licenses allowed citywide, local approval already secured for this site
Montgomery ($1,825,000/yr predicted revenue)
A 3,847 sq ft two-unit space with the city’s only unclaimed cannabis registration, secured via CannDev’s lease option and offered on assignment to a qualified operator.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $1,825,000/year, #5 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 78,003 (#6 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $101,067 (#3 of 10 in MN)
- Licensing: Capped market, only 1 registration citywide, still unclaimed
Paynesville ($1,460,000/yr predicted revenue)
A 2,990 sq ft space in a 2013-built commercial building with heavy daytime foot traffic in an uncapped Minnesota market.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $1,460,000/year, #6 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 55,535 (#7 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $87,641 (#6 of 10 in MN)
- Licensing: Uncapped market, no license cap
Clearwater ($1,460,000/yr predicted revenue)
A 3,768 sq ft property on one of the portfolio’s highest-traffic corridors (46,734 daily vehicles) in an uncapped license market.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $1,460,000/year, #7 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 254,033 (#4 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $86,705 (#7 of 10 in MN)
- Licensing: Uncapped market, no license cap
Glenwood ($730,000/yr predicted revenue)
A 2,688 sq ft highway-fronting building on MN-28 in a Minnesota market with no license cap at all.
- BDSA revenue prediction: $730,000/year, #8 of 8 Minnesota deals
- 20-min population: 38,509 (#9 of 10 in MN)
- 20-min household income: $78,165 (#8 of 10 in MN)
- Licensing: Uncapped market, no license cap
A note on the revenue numbers: these come from BDSA, a third-party cannabis market data vendor, and represent an implied revenue prediction for the specific site based on nearby competitor performance and market data, not a guarantee.
Plus, we have various paper licenses available:
- Microbusiness License (General): $25,000
- Microbusiness License (SEE): $15,000
- Mezzobusiness License (General): $500,000
- Mezzobusiness License (SEE): $175,000
- Manufacturing License (SEE): $275,000
- Cultivation License (SEE): $275,000
- Retailer License (SEE): $125,000
The Bottom Line
Minnesota’s cannabis market closed year one at $250 million in sales and 369 licensed businesses, while 3,541 applicants and 396 issued licenses show how much of the buildout is still ahead. Down in Duluth, the Fond du Lac Band broke ground on its third Anang store, and a Forest Lake seizure of nearly 200 pounds put the gap between licensed and unlicensed supply on full display.
📬 Get Monthly Market Updates
Stay ahead of the curve with our monthly cannabis retail market newsletter. New markets, regulatory changes, and expansion opportunities delivered to your inbox.
