GrowGeneration Corp is a Colorado-based hydroponic equipment supplier founded in 2014. The company offers various products and services that cater to the cannabis industry, including hydroponic equipment, lighting, nutrients, and other cultivation supplies. In addition to its brick-and-mortar stores, GrowGeneration offers e-commerce solutions to help facilitate sales for the cannabis industry. GrowGeneration has become a one-stop-shop for growers across the country, with 60 retail and warehouse locations across 12 states.
In 2019, GrowGeneration became a publicly traded company through a reverse merger with Easylife Corp, a non-operating publicly traded shell company. This allowed GrowGeneration to go public without the traditional IPO process and provided the company with access to additional capital to support its expansion. The company now trades on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol GRWG.
Since going public, GrowGeneration has continued to expand its operations through acquisitions and opening new stores. In 2020, the company made several strategic acquisitions, including acquiring Hydroponics Depot in Phoenix, AZ, and acquiring assets from Emerald City Garden in Concord, CA. The company has also opened new stores in states such as Michigan, Oklahoma, and Maine.
GrowGeneration has also continued to see strong financial growth, reporting record revenues of $193.0 million in 2020, a 143% increase from 2019. The company has attributed its success to its focus on customer service, high-quality products, and its ability to quickly adapt to changes in the industry.
Despite its success, GrowGeneration operates in a highly regulated industry with many legal and regulatory challenges. Cannabis remains illegal at the federal level, and the industry is subject to a patchwork of state and local regulations. However, GrowGeneration's focus on the ancillary market, supplying equipment and services to cannabis growers rather than growing or distributing cannabis itself, has allowed it to navigate these challenges while still providing a valuable service to the cannabis industry.