Cresco Labs Announces the Opening of Its First Five Sunnyside* Dispensaries and the Launch of Sunnyside.shop in Preparation for First Day of Adult-Use Cannabis Sales in Illinois

Sunnyside* Stores in Lakeview, Elmwood Park, Champaign and Rockford Expect to Serve Thousands of Customers on January 1

CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Cresco Labs (CSE:CL)(OTC: CRLBF) (“Cresco” or “the Company”), one of the largest vertically integrated multistate cannabis operators in the United States, announced today the opening of its first five Sunnyside* dispensaries in Lakeview, Elmwood Park, Champaign, Buffalo Grove and Rockford, Illinois. The state is set to allow the sale of recreational cannabis on January 1^st. With nearly 13 million residents and more than 100 million tourists a year, Illinois is projected to become one of the largest adult-use cannabis markets in the United States with annual sales estimated at between $2-4 billion at maturity¹. As the only operator in Illinois with three (3) cultivation facilities², Cresco has a unique competitive advantage by having the largest authorized capacity in the state and is set to build on its already market-leading position³.

Cresco’s Sunnyside* adult-use dispensaries are strategically located in high traffic locations and some of the most important jurisdictions in Illinois. All of the Company’s adult-use locations will open January 1^st at 6AM to immediately begin recreational sales. The stores are fully staffed and have put processes in place, such as pre-ordering from the line, to help accommodate the thousands of customers projected during the first week of sales.

The Company’s brick-and-mortar footprint will be supplemented by the new Sunnyside.shop website that launched today and is designed to provide an educational and seamless online shopping experience. The site offers product information and expert recommendations and serves as an e-commerce platform for online ordering and in-store pickup or home delivery for applicable states. The website is currently live in Illinois and New York at launch and will integrate additional states as Sunnyside* dispensaries continue to open across the nation.

“New Year’s Day is a historic day as the end of cannabis prohibition launches in Illinois. We are expecting pretty large crowds and long lines to form as early as midnight on New Year’s Eve to celebrate the excitement of this milestone. Our Sunnyside* Dispensaries are prepared to help introduce a new type of wellness to a broader set of customers across the state – both through our in-store consumer experience and through our new online platform,” said Charlie Bachtell, Cresco Labs CEO and Co-founder. “Cresco is also very thankful to our customers for supporting the social equity and restorative justice elements of this program as several of the excited customers at our Wrigleyville location have made significant donations to our Gift of History initiative with all contributions benefiting the Last Prisoner Project. From a market perspective, Illinois is poised to be one of the largest programs in U.S. cannabis and our Company is well prepared from both cultivation and retail perspectives to fully realize this opportunity. The launch of recreational cannabis sales in our home state is a transformative step for the entire industry and we are confident that Cresco is ideally positioned to provide long-term value to our customers and employees, to our communities and to our shareholders.”

Access to supply will be critically important as Illinois transitions to adult-use legalization. As the only operator in Illinois with three cultivation licenses, Cresco has the ability to expand to 630,000 square feet of canopy across its three locations – legally, the largest capacity of any operator in the state². The Company currently distributes to every dispensary in the state and its Illinois retail presence will include ten (10) Sunnyside* dispensaries, with three (3) located in prime, high-traffic Chicago locations opening in the spring.

1. Illinois is projected to be a $2-4 billion dollar market at maturity according to Marijuana Business Daily making it one of largest cannabis markets in US.
2. State of Illinois, Department of Agriculture cannabis cultivation license.
3. According to monthly State of Illinois wholesale sales figures, Cresco has the leading market share in the state with approximately 25% market share.

About Cresco Labs:

Cresco Labs is one of the largest vertically integrated multi-state cannabis operators in the United States. Cresco is built to become the most important company in the cannabis industry by combining the most strategic geographic footprint with one of the leading distribution platforms in North America. Employing a consumer-packaged goods (“CPG”) approach to cannabis, Cresco’s house of brands is designed to meet the needs of all consumer segments and includes some of the most recognized and trusted national brands including Cresco, Remedi and Mindy’s, a line of edibles created by James Beard Award-winning chef Mindy Segal. Sunnyside*, Cresco’s national dispensary brand is a wellness-focused retailer designed to build trust, education and convenience for both existing and new cannabis consumers. Recognizing that the cannabis industry is poised to become one of the leading job creators in the country, Cresco has launched the industry’s first national comprehensive Social Equity and Educational Development (SEED) initiative designed to ensure that all members of society have the skills, knowledge and opportunity to work in and own businesses in the cannabis industry. Learn more about Cresco Labs at www.crescolabs.com.

Forward Looking Statements

This press release contains “forward-looking information” within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only the Company's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as, ‘may,’ ‘will,’ ‘should,’ ‘could,’ ‘would,’ ‘expects,’ ‘plans,’ ‘anticipates,’ ‘believes,’ ‘estimates,’ ‘projects,’ ‘predicts,’ ‘potential’ or ‘continue’ or the negative of those forms or other comparable terms. The Company’s forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause the Company’s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to those risks discussed under "Risk Factors" in the company’s CSE Listing Statement filed with SEDAR; and other factors, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Because of these uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on the Company’s forward-looking statements. No assurances are given as to the future trading price or trading volumes of Cresco’s shares, nor as to the Company’s financial performance in future financial periods. The Company does not intend to update any of these factors or to publicly announce the result of any revisions to any of the Company’s forward-looking statements contained herein, whether as a result of new information, any future event or otherwise. Except as otherwise indicated, this press release speaks as of the date hereof. The distribution of this press release does not imply that there has been no change in the affairs of the Company after the date hereof or create any duty or commitment to update or supplement any information provided in this press release or otherwise.