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Medical marijuana company Fluent now has only one dispensary left in Miami-Dade County, after closing its stores in North Miami Beach, Aventura, Cutler Bay, and Kendall. The last Miami-Dade store standing is the company’s Coral Gables location on Bird Road.
Over the last few months, Fluent appears to have been consolidating its dispensaries across the state, raising the question of whether Florida’s tightly regulated and controlled medical marijuana industry is struggling. For instance, Fluent’s Aventura location, which made news headlines for opening next to a childcare center, has already closed, despite opening just earlier this year. The company had relocated its North Miami Beach location to Aventura.
“As our store in North Miami Beach was an outdated first-generation store, our newly opened Aventura location is reflective of Fluent’s current store model, boasting many updates such as an open showroom floor, digital menu screens, an expanded vault, and twice the number of POS stations,” Robert Beasley, the then-Fluent CEO, said in a press release about the Aventura dispensary.
In addition to the recent store closures, the company announced in August that Beasley, CEO and director, resigned. Former Chief Commercial Officer David Vautrin was named interim CEO.
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“At this time, I have made the difficult decision to step away from the company as it transitions into its next phase of growth,” Beasley said in the press release announcing his departure. “It has been an honor to serve as chief executive officer, and I am proud of the accomplishments of our team to position Fluent for ongoing success.”
In response to the discussion on the r/FLMedicalTrees subreddit about Fluent’s recent dispensary closures, the company clarified that it is making “strategic adjustments” to its retail footprint.
“This includes opening new stores in high-demand areas and consolidating a few locations into nearby stores where we can offer an improved experience,” Fluent wrote. “To be fully transparent, the stores we are closing are Aventura, Kendall, Cutler Bay, and Fort Pierce. We will also be transitioning our Tampa location to Brandon.”
The company added that two more stores will be opening in Orlando and Palm Bay.
“Our goal is to continue investing in the communities we serve and ensure that our customers have access to the best possible service and experience in our 40+ Fluent locations,” the company continued.
Fluent, which did not return New Times‘ request for comment by the time of publication, still operates stores in Deerfield Beach and Coral Springs in Broward County.
According to Florida’s Office of Medical Marijuana Use (OMMU), there are only 28 vertically-integrated medical marijuana operators across the state. In November 2024, the state announced it would award 22 additional licenses. As of October 3, there are 926,467 qualified medical marijuana patients and 2,435 qualified physicians, OMMU data reveals.
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Naomi Feinstein is a staff writer of Miami New Times where she primarily focuses on news. Naomi started her career with New Times as a summer intern in 2019, then returned as a fellow in August 2022 before joining the staff full-time in February 2023. She graduated from University of Miami where she contributed to the student-run newspaper, the Miami Hurricane. She holds a master’s degree and graduated with honors from the Columbia School of Journalism. In 2021, Naomi was recognized as the College Journalist of the Year from the Society of Professional Journalists of Florida, and she placed second for Best General News Story in the 2021 Pinnacle Awards.
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