Edmonton-based company spreads its roots in Ontario

Fire & Flower signage has appeared in the window of what will be one of Toronto’s newest cannabis dispensaries at 433 Spadina Avenue.

However, the appearance of signs alone does not mean an opening is imminent. Fire & Flower has had a much larger location secured in the city’s Yorkville location for almost a year as it waits for the chance to apply for a licence to sell cannabis.

Trevor Fencott, the chief executive officer of Fire & Flower, said neither of the two Toronto locations are licenced yet, but the company will be submitting applications as soon as permitted by the government. “We’ve always been pretty public about our belief in the Ontario market, that it would eventually open up, so we’ve kept a portfolio of strategic assets in the province and one of them that we’re very excited about obviously is the Spadina-College location,” he told The GrowthOp.

“I think it’s going to be very important for our strategy. We’ve been preparing for more than a year now.”

But Fencott said that while they are excited that Ontario has opened up the market, he is concerned that it will remain difficult for retailers to distinguish themselves as long as the province maintains control over distribution. Fire & Flower deals with a similar system in Alberta, where the CEO predicts the market will soon see a mass closing of the stores that struggled to stand out without the ability to compete on price or product selection. And Ontario could be next.

“You’re going to get a boom for the next 12 months when stores are opening and then the hard reality that retail is a difficult business at the best of times.”

As for Fire & Flower, the company intends to play to its strengths, Fencott said, and focus on using data from its digital retail platform to identify and serve up the products consumers covet most. “We’re designed from the ground up to do this,” he said. “I’m comfortable that we’ll be competitive. If we can’t be a normal retailer, we will be a next gen retailer, which is what we already are.”

The company plans to open as many stores as the province permits. “We’re allowed, I believe, to have 10 for the first cohort and we will have 10,” he said. You’re allowed to 30 by December of 2020… we’re going to try to hit every one of those milestones.”

The Edmonton-based Fire & Flower has more than 20 stores currently in operation throughout the country, with the majority located in Alberta and Saskatchewan. The company’s sole Kingston location was recently honoured for Best Retail Interior, Ontario, Canada by the International Property Awards.

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