Scotts Miracle-Gro is reportedly exploring how to enter the medical marijuana market.
Scotts Chief Executive Jim Hagedorn told The Wall Street Journal that the company is considering the move to help boost sales at the lawn and garden company perhaps best known for weed killer.
"I want to target the pot market," Hagedorn told the newspaper. "There's no good reason we haven't."
Sales at Scotts rose 5 percent last year to $2.9 billion, but the Marysville, Ohio, company relies on sales at three key retailers -- Home Depot Inc., Lowe's Cos. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. -- for nearly two-thirds of its revenue, the newspaper reports.
And with consumers still cautious regarding spending, those retailers are not opening new stores as quickly as usual, making growth for suppliers like Scotts difficult. As a result, Hagedorn has asked his regional salesmen to look for smaller pockets of growth like the marijuana market to pad sales. To target marijuana growers, Scotts would likely buy niche dirt companies that already exist rather than create its own line of branded products, the Journal reports.
A total of 16 states have legalized medical marijuana. The market will reach $1.7 billion in sales this year, according to a report by See Change Strategy LLC, an information data services company.
