Why this cannabis company chose Sunland Park over Albuquerque

Sunland Park, a town of roughly 17,000, is not the obvious place for a multi-state business to begin its venture in New Mexico. But it was the ideal location for Kevin Pattah and Mango Cannabis.

Pattah is the co-founder and CEO of the Oklahoma-based company, which also operates dispensaries in Michigan and New York. When he decided to expand Mango’s footprint into New Mexico, Pattah said he first considered areas with numerous potential customers.

“We like to look for limited sites that are underserved and undervalued. Then that allows us to step in and serve that community,” Pattah told the Journal.

Like dozens of other operations, the allure of a massive market of Texans across the state line was too much to pass up. The most recent census data shows 869,880 people reside in El Paso County, Texas. There, recreational cannabis remains illegal, although most possession convictions end with fines in what El Paso calls a “cite and release” program.

But go a few miles further and the massive sprawling Ciudad Juárez with an estimated population of 1.6 million, where cannabis is legal, provides even more opportunity.

“We wanted to do Albuquerque, but we were trying to find a market that we could go into that was somewhat limited, where there’s not as much competition, and there’s a lot of opportunity for growth,” Pattah said. “And we saw that in Sunland Park.”

Mango — which now boasts the largest dispensary in New Mexico — is not alone in choosing Sunland Park to access the El Paso market. Since the adult-use market opened in April 2022, Sunland Park has collected more money from adult-use sales than nearly every other city in the state. Only Albuquerque collects more, according to data collected by the state’s Cannabis Control Division, or CCD.

“From the web, Sunland Park doesn’t look that great,” Pattah said. “Seeing the numbers online through the New Mexico (CCD) website, it looked like Sunland Park was thriving and a fantastic market.”

Since April 2022, operators in Sunland Park have sold $112 million in the adult-use market and $6 million in the medical market. For comparison, Las Cruces reported $70.7 million in adult sales, and Santa Fe reported nearly $69 million.

Upon visiting Sunland Park in 2024, Pattah said his confidence grew. Stores were thriving, and the demand for cannabis was high. Additionally, Pattah felt there was less competition in Sunland Park compared to the strictly New Mexican markets.

Mango then looked around for a building, finding and reopening in 2025 a vacant 9,000-square-foot spot that formerly housed a Dollar General.

However, a medical and recreational cannabis market that sells to Texans faces regulatory hurdles. Still, Pattah told the Journal that wasn’t much of a concern.

“It can be worrisome. But at the end of the day, the most important thing for us is that we follow New Mexico state laws and New Mexico regulations,” Pattah said, adding that Mango advises all customers to consume cannabis in New Mexico.

Now entering its third month of operations, Mango has plans to come north. Pattah said establishing a presence in the Albuquerque area is still a goal, although the priority right now is Sunland Park. Pattah said Mango hopes to open 10 to 15 locations around the state, including possibly in Albuquerque, Santa Fe and Bernalillo.

“As we continue to expand, we’ll continue to study and do our due diligence and see what market fits Mango’s demographic,” Pattah said.