Hobo gives up ‘tone deaf’ name after public backlash
Kelowna’s first licensed cannabis store is rebranding – admitting they were “a bit tone deaf” about the name.
Hobo Cannabis will become Dutch Love.
The store had the distinction last July of becoming the first licensed retail cannabis store in Kelowna.
Owned by Vancouver-based Donnelly Group, the chain has several locations in Vancouver among its current 12 stores. They will all be converted to Dutch Love within the next three weeks.
The Kelowna location is at 2121 Springfield Rd., near Orchard Park Mall. Sinch its inception, Hobo has faced repeated criticism of its name.
Harrison Stoker, vice-president of brand at the Donnelly Group, said the name expressed “the verb to hobo.”
“The idea of readily dropping your worldly possessions and travelling that was championed in the late 19th century when the railways were being developed in North America. … We’ve all read a lot of Jack Kerouac’s On The Road and other books of people who are hobos.”
The company is owning its mistake. The company president said they are making the switch because they want to be inclusive and ensure no one sees its name as an effort to slight homeless.
“We were a bit tone deaf when we came up with the name,” said Jeff Donnelly, president and chief executive of the Donnelly Group. “One of our favourite magazines was called Hobo in the past and another amazing hotel in Denmark and as a cannabis company, we felt we had the same cultural values as some of those companies. We wanted to capitalize on the experience of cannabis... where you travel when you use it or where your mind wanders.”