iAnthus Capital Holdings (IAN.C) maximizes their brand potential with new deal, and new marketing exec

IAnthus Capital Holdings (IAN.C) subsidiary CBD For Life and Urban Outfitters (URBN.Q) have agreed to stock CBD products in Urban Outfitters top six stores, and their e-commerce platform.

This retail deal includes some big name locations and some real market penetration potential for CBD for Life’s health and wellness product lines in an industry that will be worth $22 billion by 2022, according to the Brightfield Group.

The six new retail locations are:

628 Broadway, New York, N.Y.;
1140 Third St. Promenade, Santa Monica, Calif.;
80 Powell St., San Francisco, Calif.;
526 Avenue of the Americas, New York, N.Y.;
521 Fifth Ave. at 43rd St., New York, N.Y.;
1333 Broadway, Herald Square, New York, N.Y.

“Our partnership with Urban Outfitters represents a major step forward for CBD For Life, placing us in one of the United States’ most successful retail chains that also serves as a tastemaker for the rest of the retail market. With the backing of iAnthus, we look forward to further growing our footprint and making our products top of mind for consumers around the world,” said Julie Winter, chief operating officer of CBD for Life.

CBD for Life also got a spot on Good Morning America on April 11, where they discussed its health benefits, and Michael Strahan tried to be funny.

This is the continuing trend for CBD for Life, who had enjoyed a fair amount of positive press coverage prior to the acquisition by iAnthus.

CBD For Life’s products have been featured in online and print publications including Forbes, Marie Claire, and Allure.

Beth Stavola, the company’s CEO (and the chief strategic officer for iAnthus) was recognized as Inc.com’s top 100 female founders in 2018, as well as being chosen as one of the High Times 21 Women-of-Weed for 2019.

In other news, iAnthus appointed Neil Calvesbert as chief marketing officer earlier this week. He is responsible for branding and marketing strategies to help meet the company’s growth objectives.

Calvesbert previously served as the chief growth and marketing officer for Nicopure Labs and VP of global marketing for Monster Energy Beverages (MNST.Q), where he brought in pro-athletes like Jackass star Jason “Wee Man” Acuña and skater Rob Dyrdek, as well as musicians and influencers to boost the Monster brand.

Now Monster reaches 100 countries, and pulls in $1.4 billion to $3 billion a year from a broad range of happy repeat customers.

Before that he was the chief executive officer of sports retailer Fox Racing, which he expanded to over 55 countries.

Calvesbert intends to leverage his established branding acumen to cement iAnthus’ offerings in the minds of cannabis connoisseurs.

“Cannabis is the type of blank canvas that brand visionaries like me usually only dream of. Our plan to accomplish this is quite simple — we will create iconic brands that our customers can identify and engage with through refreshing retail experiences in our dispensaries to help them better understand cannabis and how to include it in their daily routines. Life is for enjoying, and my passion is to create something timeless and unforgettable that ultimately helps people smile,” said Calvesbert.

Shares rose CAD$0.07 to end the day at $6.11 per share.

Currently iAnthus Capital Holdings has 136,873,271 issued and outstanding shares with a market cap of $826 million.

—Joseph Morton

Full disclosure: iAnthus Capital Holdings is an Equity.Guru marketing client.