Paradise Cannabis opens in Fort Erie
Town’s third licensed cannabis retailer hopes to attract U.S. customers
Paradise Cannabis in Fort Erie could be a draw for bingo players and vacationers from the U.S. — whenever the border reopens.
That’s something the town’s third licensed cannabis retailer is hoping for, manager Nick Martin said Monday, two days after the Garrison Road dispensary welcomed its first customers.
Paradise Cannabis is in the same plaza as Delta Bingo and Gaming, formerly Uncle Sam’s Bingo.
The Fort Erie store employs 14 people, some of whom were brought in from Smoker’s Paradise, a chain that has many locations in Ontario selling electronic cigarettes and cannabisrelated devices and equipment.
Paradise Cannabis and Smoker’s Paradise are in a partnership with the latest venture, which is expected to grow and lead to a Welland store on Niagara Street and another in Niagara Falls on Lundy’s Lane.
The Welland store is awaiting its final inspection from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario.
Its manager, Devyn Plamondon, expects it will start serving buds and edibles by the middle of March, she said Monday at the Fort Erie site.
The Niagara Falls store is expected to get an approval and be open in May, Plamondon said.
Fort Erie has two other licensed retailers — Cannabis Supply Co. on Niagara Parkway and Village Cannabis on Ridgeway Road in Crystal Beach.
For a town with a population of 30,000, Martin said he’s comfortable that there is enough demand out there to compete with two other stores.
“I think we’re pretty good in terms of competition,” he said.
He said Paradise Cannabis staff have plenty of experience selling bongs, pipes, rolling papers, grinders, vaporizers and various items that are part of cannabis consumption.
“We try to focus on a 50/50 split with cannabis and accessories,” he said.
About two kilometres from the Peace Bridge, the Fort Erie store will welcome many of the more than 10,000 U.S. seasonal residents who call Fort Erie home during the summer months, once border restrictions are lifted, Martin said. “It’s a great tourist area.” The store currently operates at 25 per cent capacity due to the province’s pandemic restrictions.
Paradise’s Welland store application is among nine from the city before the AGCO. Public notice processes have been completed for eight of the ones still in limbo.
This gives local residents and municipal officials 15 days to “submit comments on a proposed location for a retail cannabis store,” said AGCO spokesperson Raymond Kahnert.
Every proposed location is obligated to go through a public notice period.
Sessions Cannabis opened at Fitch Street Plaza in late December as the city’s first legal distributor.
Plamondon said Wellanders appear to be open to a Paradise store coming to the west side of downtown, on the south end of Niagara Street.
“People have been welcoming and accepting,” she said.
In 2019, Niagara’s municipalities were faced with a decision to opt in or out of allowing cannabis retailers to open within their boundaries.
Grimsby, Pelham, West Lincoln, Wainfleet and Niagaraon-the-lake all chose to not welcome cannabis retailers. The remaining seven communities opted in. There are dozens of applications from Niagara before the AGCO.
The city in the region with the most approved sites is Niagara Falls, with six given the green light by the AGCO. St. Catharines has five and Fort Erie has three.