The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario spent the week issuing Retail Operator Licenses (ROL, for people running REC stores) Retail Store Authorizations (RSA, for each new retail location) with increasing speed.
- On Tuesday, lawyer Matt Maurer noted 45 RSAs had reached the public-notice stage. “Another few days and counting won’t make sense anymore at this rate.” Of those 45, the majority were in Toronto, with the rest all over the province.
Twitter–Matt Maurer - Seven more RSAs went into public notice the next day, nine more on Thursday, and six more on Friday. That means 67 stores across Ontario await community approval and will be opening soon.
Twitter–Matt Maurer - The AGCO issued 17 new ROLs in a single day, a striking departure from the glacial progress that followed the two REC retail lotteries.
Twitter–Matt Maurer
The snag, investor/advisor Aaron Salz warned, is that once each store gets public-notice approval, it will need roughly $1M for buildout and working capital, and the market for REC-retail capital will; get more competitive with each new AGCO approval.
Twitter–Aaron Salz
- Meanwhile, Brock University business professor Michael J Armstrong noted, the stores who’ve waited 18 months to open will do so during a pandemic.
Twitter–Michael J Armstrong
The former chairman of the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, Randy Barber, is working on opening a Highlife-branded REC store, “pending a successful RSA.”
NewsWire, Calyx+Trichomes
- Following Ontario’s second REC retail lottery last August, Highlife was linked to 650 individual applications, with 100 Highlife-affiliated people submitting applications using 14 Highlife addresses. This prompted accusations of ballot-stuffing.
Financial Post, Reddit
