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Unlike many players in Canada’s emerging cannabis industry, Tokyo Smoke has largely ignored cannabis production, focusing instead on creating a recognizable brand and a network of retail stores that can be converted into dispensaries next summer in the provinces — B.C., Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador — where private retail is expected to be legal. The company has seven coffee shops, in Toronto, Calgary and Kelowna, and expects to have many more leases signed in the coming months, Gertner said.

“Consumers choose brands and retail, that’s how they make buying decisions in other industries, and they’ll do the same in cannabis,” Gertner said.

This fact, which is quickly being grasped across the industry, means a huge shift in the way companies look at branding, said Matt Webb, co-founder of Vancouver design agency Webb Creative, which has worked on branding with companies like Doja and Broken Coast Cannabis.

“We’re going to be looking at something that’s much closer to what we would consider for an alcohol brand. And I say specifically alcohol and not tobacco, because I think there’s more of a lifestyle aspect to alcohol branding and marketing,” said Webb.

On the retail front, Tokyo Smoke isn’t the only company aiming to establish a national brand.

Canopy Growth Corp., the largest legal cannabis company in the country, is moving into the space with stores operating under the name Tweed Main Street.