On July 8, Michael Belden was getting ready to open Lume Cannabis. Reached via the long driveway between Taco King and Faz’s Pizza, it’s bracketed by GTM Auto Repair and the Detroit Fudge Company, maker of CBD-infused edibles. 

Belden described his role as managerial, “a kind of bridge between the budtenders and sales.” Asked for more information about Lume, he said, “We’ll have our PR people get in touch.” 

An MLive story the following Monday suggested the PR people might be otherwise preoccupied: at the same time it was opening in Ann Arbor, Lume was closing four other outlets around the state. The article quoted a PR firm’s statement that the closures would leave the company “better aligned for further growth”—but also noted the “Michigan marijuana industry prices and profit margins have diminished drastically since the market emerged in December 2019.” 

A June article on BridgeMI.com spelled out just how drastically: according to state data, prices for “recreational” marijuana flower have fallen by 74 percent since legalization. Bridge quoted a budtender who sold flower for $500 an ounce then—and is selling it now for $99. 

At press time Lume’s PR firm still hadn’t called, but according to the Ann Arbor store’s website, its “shelves are fully stocked with a full array of THC products from indicas to sativas and hybrids, cannabis flower, pre-rolls, kief, extracts, edibles, and an assortment of our very own small-batch Lume CBD products.” 

Downtown, one of the city’s first recreational retailers, Om of Medicine, is now Mission Ann Arbor. Former owner James Klotz is staying on as manager, and the Ann Arbor location now carries the motto, “Forever home to Om.” 

Klotz says the acquisition will help the store “prepare for the future.” He doesn’t say how the Illinois-based chain envisions the industry’s future, but falling profits typically drive consolidation, pushing smaller companies into the arms of bigger ones. At press time, the Mission Ann Arbor website featured 25-percent-off weekly specials on Chronicseur flower edibles, Errl King gummies and Live Resin vape cartridges. 

Lume Cannabis Company, 2247 W. Liberty. (734) 322–6380. Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m–9 p.m. lume.com

Mission Ann Arbor, 111 S. Main. (734) 369–8255. Mon.–Sat. 9 a.m.–9 p.m., Sun. noon–8 p.m. missiondispensaries.com