Hightimes Holding Corp. will see former Green Growth Brands Executive Peter Horvath step in as CEO at a critical time for the company. Long the publisher of High Times, the holding corporation is in the midst of a strategic move into the retail segment of the legal cannabis industry. Hightimes Holding Corp. has acquired two dispensaries (in Los Angeles and Las Vegas) and is working on closing a deal for 13 more in California.
Horvath’s retail experience mostly stems from his time at L Brands, which owns Victoria’s Secret and Bath & Body Works. At Green Growth Brands, he served as CEO for a year. The Green Growth strategy was based largely on the mall retail business that drove L Brands’ sales; Green Growth’s Seventh Sense CBD kiosks were seen as the next step in the company’s retail plan.
“All of the retail industry has seen a massive shift in consumer behavior and it’s been accelerated by COVID,” Horvath told IPO Edge. “It’s going to be very exciting to really be the first post-COVID cannabis company.”
Hightimes Holding Corp. is in the middle of a Reg+ IPO, a type of pre-public capital raise that allows investors to maintain liquidity. The company plans to list on the OTC markets under the ticker symbol “HTHC.”
“High Times is a unique brand with an important and rich heritage that deserves amplification and broader reach,” Horvath said in a public statement. “I think of brands like Glossier, who first earned high affinity followers through compelling and relevant content, and then demonstrated that you can also serve their followers through commerce. So, it’s been done before, I wouldn't suggest that it will be easy, but we have all the resources to succeed. I look forward to joining Adam’s accomplished team at High Times, and I am intent on understanding, protecting, and building on the High Times legacy.”
