Cookies Sued By Partners For An Estimate of $100 Million

Journal

Mar 14

Written By Damian Nicholas

The lawsuit claims Cookies breached California franchise law, misrepresentation, and damages.

Cannabis | Cookies Brand

Words by FP Team

FARID

Cookies, a leading cannabis brand, is in another legal dispute regarding franchising laws with its partners in adult-use marijuana stores.

In a lawsuit filed in January by Cookies Retail LLC in California Superior Court in Orange County, Cookies Retail LLC (franchisee) alleged that Cookies (franchisor) has breached California Franchise Law, made a misrepresentation, and caused "not less than one hundred million dollars" in damages, records show.

Cookies have dominated a particular sector within the cannabis industry through operating under a franchising business model with a network of legally distinct companies. Glibert Milam Jr., the co-founder and media personality, also known as Berner, is directly associated with some of those operations – including Berner's hometown, San Francisco Bay Area-based Cookies SF.

Others, within the Cookies network, such as Newport Beach, California-based Cookies Retail, are independently owned companies with signed agreements to open Cookies-Branded retail stores, according to court records.

Brandon Johnson, the principal of Cookies Retail LLC, former real estate professional, co-founder, and chief executive officer of TRP – a cannabis company that operates under a vertical business strategy. TRP operates marijuana stores under other brands in 14 states, taking ownership of key components within a cannabis company's supply chain – cultivating, manufacturing, and distribution.

According to the lawsuit filed on Jan. 12 in California Superior Court in Orange County, Cookies Retail signed licensing agreements with Cookies and its subsidiaries to open Cookies-Branded stores in Florida, Massachusetts, Oregan, Colorado, Oklahoma, and California – to fulfill this agreement, Cookies Retail LLC invested over 100 million, the suit claims.

Since the initial investment, according to the lawsuit, Cookies Retail LLC “has discovered countless lies and blatant misrepresentations made by Defendants about their business, including the profitability of Cookies stores, the cost to open each store, and Defendants’ illegal self-dealing.”

The lawsuit alleges Cookies Retail invested in 33 Cookies-branded stores it opened across the country and claims at least 100 million in damages, violation of state and federal franchise laws, and fraudulent misrepresentations.

According to court records, the defendants in this suit are:

Cookies SF.
Cookies Creative Consulting & Promotions LLC.
Cookies Creative Consulting & Promotions Inc.
Cookies Creative Productions & Consulting Inc.
Cookies Creative PT.
Mesh Brands.
Biggerbizz.
Lemonnade.
1212 Ventures.

Cookies executives Glibert Milam Jr., Matt Barron, Parker Berling, Ian Habenicht, and breeder Lesjai Personnet (sic) Chang, who is credited with developing the company's proprietary genetics.