Multistate cannabis operator AYR Wellness notified Massachusetts officials on July 31 that it will be laying off 157 workers as the company plans to close four dispensaries in the state by September.
AYR owns an adult-use retail facility in Boston, a medical-only store in Needham, and hybrid facilities in Somerville and Watertown. The stores in Boston and Watertown are branded AYR dispensaries, while the stores in Needham and Somerville are under the Sira Natural Inc. name. AYR also operates a cultivation and manufacturing facility in Milford, Mass.
As of January 2025, Massachusetts represents the fourth-largest cannabis jobs market in the U.S. with approximately 27,000 workers, according to industry jobs platform Vangst.
The company filed the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) in Massachusetts a day after announcing a nationwide restructuring agreement to sell and/or wind down its assets in eight states.
AYR also has dispensary locations in Connecticut (1), Florida (67), Illinois (4), Nevada (6), New Jersey (3), Ohio (6) and Pennsylvania (6), as well as a recently awarded medical cannabis license in Virginia.
The company’s move to sell off its assets is part of a restructuring support agreement (RSA) with its lenders.
“Today marks a major milestone for AYR and the restructuring of its obligations, having agreed to a pathway to reduce its debt and seek to maximize value for all stakeholders,” AYR Interim CEO Scott Davido said in the company’s July 30 restructuring announcement. “We look forward to continuing to work closely with our lenders as we execute the next steps in our restructuring plan as defined by the RSA.”
The announcement didn’t specifically call attention to the company’s assets in Massachusetts, but, as part of the agreement with an ad hoc committee of its consenting senior noteholders, the lenders plan to purchase certain assets and assume certain liabilities of the company in Florida, Ohio, Nevada, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Virginia.
In addition, the consenting lenders will offer a $50 million bridge loan at 14% interest per annum, payable monthly, according to AYR. These noteholders will also be repaid following AYR’s auction of certain assets.
The company also filed WARN notices on July 31 in Nevada for its cultivation and production facilities in Sparks.
“The employment losses that will occur are expected to be permanent, and the entire facility is expected to close,” according to the notices, which also list the end of September as the company’s expected date to terminate employees affected by the workforce reduction.
WARN notices in the other states that AYR operates in either aren’t required to be filed based on workforce numbers, haven’t yet been filed, or aren’t yet publicly available.
