HALIFAX—Some Nova Scotia liquor stores will soon be fitted with walled-off cannabis zones in preparation for pot legalization this summer, executives say.

One vacant store in Halifax will also reopen as the sole pot-only shop in the province.

Designs for 12 NSLC stores were released Monday by the corporation’s president and CEO, Bret Mitchell. Eleven existing locations will each undergo $500,000 renovations to create cannabis stores within existing liquor stores, Mitchell said. A 12th location — a recently shuttered NSLC store on Clyde Street — will be renovated to sell cannabis exclusively, at a cost yet to be determined.

“We have what I consider a modern, bright, really merchandise-intense full-service environment which we are going to roll in July,” said Mitchell.

Renderings of the store interiors look well-lit, with white walls and a few bright punches of colour. A wall of weed boxes behind the cash registers show off the variety of products on offer.

Senior vice-president and chief operating officer Tim Pellerin said the NSLC is still in the process of choosing cannabis suppliers, but it’s preparing for 150 products at the store-within-a-store shops, 300 products at Clyde Street and a total of 425 products on the NSLC website.

Products will include prepackaged buds, pre-rolled joints, cannabis oil and gel caps, as well as accessories like papers, vaporizers, grinders and lockable storage devices.

Pellerin said the assortment of products on offer will likely morph over time.

“We know we’re not going to get this perfect or right the first time when it comes to product assortment … We’ll be open and flexible to make those changes when they make sense for us operationally and ultimately for the customer and for the vendor partners,” he said.

Pellerin said NSLC staff will have to “condition” customers to a slightly different experience in the pot shops, relative to what they’re used to in liquor stores.

For one, there will be a strict 19-plus restriction for entering the stores. Right now, minors can enter NSLC stores if an adult accompanies them, but minors aren’t allowed to even lay eyes on pot products, Pellerin said. For that reason, the store-within-a-store designs include opaque walls that cordon off the cannabis zone. A concierge will control entry and exit into the zone, he said.

Air Miles cards will also be barred. Federal legislation doesn’t allow for promotions or incentives on pot sales, so customers shouldn’t expect to earn any points when shopping for joints.

The NSLC also unveiled its corporate social responsibility program Monday. Pellerin said it’s come up with five tenets called the “Cannabis Need-to-Know,” which will be plastered around stores and on the website to reinforce safe cannabis use.

The five tenets are:

19-plus.

Low and Slow

Separate is Best

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Store Securely

Get Home Safely

The legalization date for recreational pot is still unknown, and the Senate Aboriginal People’s committee recently asked the federal government to delay by as much as a year. Still, Mitchell said the NSLC would be ready to sell pot by the summer.

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