Second Niagara Falls cannabis shop to open for pickup orders Thursday
The second cannabis store in Niagara Falls will be open for pickup orders starting Thursday.
Canna Cabana, operated by Alberta-based High Tide Inc., opens for “click-and-collect” business at 5731 Victoria Ave. in the heart of the tourist district. Delivery service will start next week.
As for the store itself, High Tide president and chief executive officer Raj Grover said there will be a proper grand opening once businesses are allowed to reopen.
“Our grand opening is a very special event, the DJ and all that stuff,” he said. “Absolutely we’ll do that once the (COVID-19) restrictions are lifted.”
The space is a 180-square-metre former linen store next to Starbucks. Grover said the company purchased the building in mid-2019 with the intention of operating a cannabis store in a prime tourist location.
High Tide Inc. operates 32 stores across Canada, including three in Ontario (Hamilton, Sudbury and Toronto). Grover is especially keen on the Niagara Falls store because he lived and worked in the city for 15 years as a wholesale supplier.
“I know Clifton Hill and Victoria Avenue really well. I was really excited about grabbing that building when it became for sale.”
The city’s first cannabis store, Choom Niagara, opened last June near the former Niagara Square mall. It was one of 25 retailers chosen through a provincial government lottery.
Canna Cabana is among the first cannabis stores to open under the post-lottery system and was one of more than 450 applications received by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Grover believes his Hamilton store is among the top two or three most successful cannabis shops in Canada.
He’s expecting similarly huge numbers for the Victoria Avenue location once the pandemic is over.
“When the season is in full swing, it’s just going to be mad tourist traffic.”
He also believes Ontario’s cannabis retail sector will see steady expansion before demand is met.
“In Alberta, we’ve got about 450 cannabis shops. We’re talking 4.3 million people, whereas Ontario has around 50 or 60 shops — two in Niagara Falls now — for 15.3 million people.
“Day and night difference in terms of population and availability of shops open. I think for the first couple years, (the Ontario market) will be very, very good.”