cant beat em..join em...
Cannabis retailer Fire and Flower is looking to Atlantic Canada to open up stores ahead of the anticipated legalisation of recreational pot by the federal government later this year.
“We have contemplated Nova Scotia and we are looking at Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick,” said Nathan Mison, the retailer’s vice-president of government and stakeholder relations, in an interview.
Fire and Flower is already working on requests for proposals to set up retail cannabis stores in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, and is in talks with entrepreneurs throughout the region.
“What is potentially interesting would be joint ventures with other partners in the cannabis sector for value-added products . . . edibles and drinks,” said Mison. “We’re always interested in business opportunities that might come from that.”
The exec would not divulge the number of stores Fire and Flower might set up in Atlantic Canada. In Alberta, which has almost twice the population of the four Atlantic provinces, the company has already applied for permission to open 37 stores.
A similar level of interest in Atlantic Canada on a per-capita basis would mean 21 stores here, including eight in Nova Scotia, five in Newfoundland and Labrador, one on Prince Edward Island, and seven in New Brunswick.
A typical Fire and Flower outlet would be about the size of a boutique, at 1,500 square feet, and employ between six and 15 people, said Mison. That would mean these 21 stores — should they be established in Atlantic Canada — could be expected to employ from 126 through to 315 workers.
The company is already in hiring mode for its anticipated store openings out West.
“We are about to start our first massive hiring because of our situation in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia,” said Mison. “It will be in the hundreds (of employees).
“We will be launching our human resources tab on our website in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
In the rush to break into the recreational marijuana sector, Fire and Flower is not alone in its bid to open up a chain of branded dispensaries.
Earlier this month, struggling java giant Second Cup and pot retailer National Access Cannabis announced they will be applying to get dispensary licences to sell marijuana through 20 of the coffee chain’s stores in Western Canada.
By operating in Second Cup outlets, National Access Cannabis would be able to quickly grow in the recreational marijuana sector.
Fire and Flower, by comparison, expects to need three months to set up each of its stores, from the time the company looks at the real estate to its opening day.
Under the current legislation, marijuana dispensaries set up throughout Atlantic Canada are often robbed because thieves know the outlets’ employees are less likely to report these crimes.
When Halifax’s Scotia Green Dispensary called police to report an armed robbery earlier this month, charges were laid against an employee in connection with that crime. But police also came back later with a search warrant under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act.
“To sell cannabis in Canada is illegal and it will continue to be illegal,” police Supt. Jim Perrin said.
“So, if we have case to go into a dispensary and we come across a crime being committed, we’ll investigate it . . . That’s one of the challenges and frustrations that police have seen over the last two years now, with these dispensary clinics, they are definitely steadfast to keep opening.”
Scotia Green Dispensary owner Carl Morgan said the latest robbery and police seizure of products cost his business $30,000 in cash and cannabis.
Edmonton-based Fire and Flower is headed up by Trevor Fencott, former chief legal officer for medicinal marijuana darling Mettrum Health. When that company was bought by Canopy Growth in a share deal worth about $430 million, it was then the biggest takeover in the fledgling marijuana sector in the world.
“Our executive team has a track record of success in the sector and that has led to relationships that have been very beneficial,” said Mison.
In February, Fire and Flower moved its corporate digs from Toronto to Alberta, citing that province’s lead in the regulation of the retail cannabis sector.
Then, on Wednesday, the company announced it had clinched a three-year supply deal with Emblem Corp. whose subsidiary Emblem Cannabis is a producer of medical cannabis and derivatives.
“Securing access to a quality supply of legal recreational cannabis will be a challenge for retailers in an initially under-supplied market,” said Fencott in a statement. “Our agreement with Emblem marks the first of several supply-side agreements that will ensure our customers have access to the best products on the Canadian cannabis market.”
Cannabis retailer Fire and Flower is looking to Atlantic Canada to open up stores ahead of the anticipated legalisation of recreational pot by the federal government later this year.
“We have contemplated Nova Scotia and we are looking at Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick,” said Nathan Mison, the retailer’s vice-president of government and stakeholder relations, in an interview.
Fire and Flower is already working on requests for proposals to set up retail cannabis stores in both Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, and is in talks with entrepreneurs throughout the region.
“What is potentially interesting would be joint ventures with other partners in the cannabis sector for value-added products . . . edibles and drinks,” said Mison. “We’re always interested in business opportunities that might come from that.”
The exec would not divulge the number of stores Fire and Flower might set up in Atlantic Canada. In Alberta, which has almost twice the population of the four Atlantic provinces, the company has already applied for permission to open 37 stores.
A similar level of interest in Atlantic Canada on a per-capita basis would mean 21 stores here, including eight in Nova Scotia, five in Newfoundland and Labrador, one on Prince Edward Island, and seven in New Brunswick.
A typical Fire and Flower outlet would be about the size of a boutique, at 1,500 square feet, and employ between six and 15 people, said Mison. That would mean these 21 stores — should they be established in Atlantic Canada — could be expected to employ from 126 through to 315 workers.
The company is already in hiring mode for its anticipated store openings out West.
“We are about to start our first massive hiring because of our situation in Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia,” said Mison. “It will be in the hundreds (of employees).
“We will be launching our human resources tab on our website in the next couple of weeks,” he said.
In the rush to break into the recreational marijuana sector, Fire and Flower is not alone in its bid to open up a chain of branded dispensaries.
Earlier this month, struggling java giant Second Cup and pot retailer National Access Cannabis announced they will be applying to get dispensary licences to sell marijuana through 20 of the coffee chain’s stores in Western Canada.
By operating in Second Cup outlets, National Access Cannabis would be able to quickly grow in the recreational marijuana sector.
Fire and Flower, by comparison, expects to need three months to set up each of its stores, from the time the company looks at the real estate to its opening day.
Under the current legislation, marijuana dispensaries set up throughout Atlantic Canada are often robbed because thieves know the outlets’ employees are less likely to report these crimes.
When Halifax’s Scotia Green Dispensary called police to report an armed robbery earlier this month, charges were laid against an employee in connection with that crime. But police also came back later with a search warrant under the Controlled Drugs and Substance Act.
“To sell cannabis in Canada is illegal and it will continue to be illegal,” police Supt. Jim Perrin said.
“So, if we have case to go into a dispensary and we come across a crime being committed, we’ll investigate it . . . That’s one of the challenges and frustrations that police have seen over the last two years now, with these dispensary clinics, they are definitely steadfast to keep opening.”
Scotia Green Dispensary owner Carl Morgan said the latest robbery and police seizure of products cost his business $30,000 in cash and cannabis.
Edmonton-based Fire and Flower is headed up by Trevor Fencott, former chief legal officer for medicinal marijuana darling Mettrum Health. When that company was bought by Canopy Growth in a share deal worth about $430 million, it was then the biggest takeover in the fledgling marijuana sector in the world.
“Our executive team has a track record of success in the sector and that has led to relationships that have been very beneficial,” said Mison.
In February, Fire and Flower moved its corporate digs from Toronto to Alberta, citing that province’s lead in the regulation of the retail cannabis sector.
Then, on Wednesday, the company announced it had clinched a three-year supply deal with Emblem Corp. whose subsidiary Emblem Cannabis is a producer of medical cannabis and derivatives.
“Securing access to a quality supply of legal recreational cannabis will be a challenge for retailers in an initially under-supplied market,” said Fencott in a statement. “Our agreement with Emblem marks the first of several supply-side agreements that will ensure our customers have access to the best products on the Canadian cannabis market.”
