Aurora announced it was opening Canada’s largest REC store inside the gargantuan West Edmonton Mall.
- The 11,000-sq. ft space—rented at “far well above the ~$100 per square foot” rents paid by other West Edmonton Mall shops, so more than $1.1M monthly— is likely the only REC store inside a mall in Canada, for whatever that’s worth.
Edmonton Sun, Twitter—David George-Cosh - REC retail firm High Tide will manage the store.
NewsWire - Aurora CEO Terry Booth said there would be “carnage” across the sector over the next year should producers not lower their production costs.
Bloomberg
Quebec convenience giant Couche Tard is sizing up the opportunity to enter the REC space on a province-wide basis by purchasing Cannabis NB.
Journal de Québec—In French
- Couche Tard heavily lobbied the Quebec government to allow private REC retail in 2017, and CEO Alain Bouchard said the decision to sell REC through the SQDC “insults me to the greatest extent.”
Montreal Gazette, Ici Radio-Canada—In French - This summer, Couche Tard acquired a 50.1% stake in REC retail firm Fire and Flower, through which the company plans to make an offer to buy Cannabis NB.
Globe and Mail - New Brunswick’s REC sales dropped 40% in September. Possible factors include the month only having 30 days, and the previous month having been the last month of the summer boom.
Financial Post
Outdoor grower 48North followed outdoor LP Aleafia in reporting an outdoor harvest yield a fraction as large as planned; they delivered 12,000 kg rather than 40,000. (Aleafia planned for 60,000 kg and harvested 10,300.)
Grizzle
- 48North reported it had actually “cultivated enough cannabis […] to meet its initial 2019 projections,” but didn’t have access to enough licensed drying space.
NewsWire - Surprising some, the company plans to sell the harvest as flower rather than for extraction. They will sell it as outdoor brand Trail Mix at a budget price.
Canopy reported it is working with five winners of Ontario’s second REC retail lottery and is on track to open five more Tokyo Smoke stores in the province.
New Cannabis Ventures
Big four accounting firm Deloitte acquired Cannabis Compliance for an undisclosed amount. The newly launched CCI Deloitte will offer end-to-end services for licensing and other industry needs.
MJ Biz Daily
Michael Elkin, formerly of Cannabis Compliance and now of REC consumer-packaged goods firm High 12, noted LPs are now worth roughly a third of what they used to be, and “Deals that were struck are being restructured at 1/3 of what they were.”
Twitter—Michael Elkin
Health Canada data showed 95% of LP products tested negative for pesticides. It did not name the LPs that failed.
Global News
