Native Roots, one of the longest-running and most well-known marijuana chains in Colorado, is shuttering its plant facility in Denver and has sold its retail locations to an investor.

The plant closure at 4990 Dahlia St. will affect 141 workers, the company said in a letter filed with the state on Monday as required by the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN). The layoffs will go into effect Oct. 2.

The layoffs include plant scientists, engineers, lab technicians and top executives including the chief executive officer, Jon Boord.

Boord, the CEO of NR ParentCo LLC d/b/a Native Roots, did not respond for comment by the time this story published.

The plant shutdown comes as Native Roots sold its 15 dispensaries in Colorado to Verdant Capital Partners, a cannabis-focused company co-founded by one of Native Roots’ founders Josh Ginsberg.

The acquisition closed July 31 for an undisclosed price, the investment group announced Tuesday.

Native Roots was founded in 2009 and was one of the first cannabis chains to sell recreational pot when Colorado was the first state to legalize its sale in 2014. At one point, the company tried to bid for the naming rights for the Mile High Stadium.

Verdant Capital Partners said it would keep the dispensaries open under the Native Roots brand with plans to invest and scale the retail business, the investment firm said in a news release.

“What makes this transition meaningful is knowing the retail business will be led by a team committed to preserving what made Native Roots successful while continuing to raise the standard,” said Ginsberg, principal of Verdant Capital Partners and co-founder of Native Roots, in a news release.

“To everyone who helped build Native Roots over the last 17 years — our employees, customers, vendors and partners — thank you. Your contributions built one of Colorado’s most respected cannabis brands, and we’re committed to honoring that legacy as we move forward.”

The acquisition did not include any of the manufacturing or cultivation side of the business, such as the plant where the layoffs occurred, a spokesperson for Native Roots’ retail business told The Denver Gazette in an email.

“Any decisions regarding their operations, including the WARN Act notice, were made independently. We can’t comment on the rationale behind those decisions or any future plans for those businesses,” the spokesperson said.

There are no planned layoffs at the retail locations, the company stated.

“Our thoughts are with everyone affected by the layoffs,” the spokesperson said.

Colorado’s marijuana industry has been struggling with declining sales following the pandemic, partly due to the rise of more competition from other states. Colorado saw a total of $1.3 billion in marijuana sales last year, down by 40% from the state’s peak of $2.2 billion in 2021, according to state data.

It’s the lowest level seen since 2016, the early days of Colorado’s cannabis boom.

Several other cannabis companies have had layoffs this year, including The Cannabist Company and PharmaCann, which each laid off 50 and 132 workers in Colorado, respectively.