In November of 2012, both Colorado and Washington state made history by legalizing recreational cannabis in the United States. Colorado ended up beating Washington to retail by six months. This made Denver the home of the first ever state legal recreational cannabis purchase on January 1st, 2014.
Twelve years and seven months later, in August of 2026, Colorado sold over $105 million worth of cannabis. Colorado currently holds Hoodie’s #10 state spot for total US cannabis sales YTD but Denver, as a city, ranks #6!
Denver itself brought in over $27 million in cannabis sales in August; this breaks down to over $867,270 of sales per day! As expected, Flower and Vapes brought in about two-thirds of all dollars spent. Contrary to most other big markets that greatly favor disposables, Vape Carts are actually the dominant format, bringing in 53% of sales. Another national favorite, the 2 gram vape (12.4% market share) is also trailing the 1 gram (72%) in the Mile-High City when looking at total sales. Not to be outdone as a pioneer market, a massive 4 gram vape currently makes up over 8.3% of total sales in Denver!
Total Vape sales in Colorado were $31.5 million dollars in August, nearly $8 million of which came from retail sales in Denver. Who are the top-selling vape brands in Denver?
It’s been said that Colorado’s market peaked in 2021 with close to two billion in annual sales. While that position is debatable, one thing that cannot be ignored is the inevitable price compression that happens within a mature market. The average shelf price of every product has dropped year over year, with the most significant drop being the infused pre-roll. Over the last year, what does a single Pre-Roll cost in Denver?
Cannabis retailers have extraordinary influence on the consumer’s experience, much of which is executed through brand and product curation. This impact has consistently provided the top dispensaries in any given city the ability to define their market. Conversely, running a dispensary is not for the faint of heart. Anyone who has ever worked retail in any capacity can attest to how challenging it can be to act as the final bridge from the brand’s promise to the consumer’s actual experience. Combined with the intricacies of quasi-legal plant medicine, you have to give credit to the stores that consistently deliver. Who are Denver’s top-selling retailers?
As cannabis consumption becomes more mainstream, people increasingly want to be able to choose their brands based on the specific experience it will provide to them. Outside of a few products in select categories that are starting to provide a level of consistency that speaks to this, as an industry, we are far from anything truly uniform. Brands that do provide a consistent quality experience are keeping consumers coming back with incredible velocity. Another far-from-perfect example of how consumers are choosing their experience is selecting by strain name. What are the top Strains in the always influential Mile-High City?
Both Hoodie Analytics and Beard Bros Pharms will be in Denver next week for Ignite It’s Colorado Market Spotlight on September 18th. If you haven’t yet purchased your ticket use HOODIE20 code, for 20%OFF. We hope to see you there!
