Up in smoke: Recent cannabis store closures in Uptown Waterloo could be signs of oversaturated market
Cannabis shops cropped up quickly across Waterloo region, but it seems some are now closing shop shortly after they arrived.
At least one expert says the shift could point to signs of saturation as the heavily competitive fight for cannabis sales takes its toll.
In Uptown Waterloo there are now three cannabis stores where until recently there were five.
The first, Bud & Sally opened in March 2020. It was quickly followed by others, popping up on what seemed like every corner.
“It obviously came in with a lot of speed and there wasn't a lot of information available for the people who were opening a cannabis store to know who else was planning to open one Uptown,” Ward 7 Coun. Tennille Bonoguore said.
The high hopes faded quickly. After six months of struggling, Bud & Sally changed hands, turning into Canna Cabana after an acquisition deal.
Canna Cabana remains, but others in Uptown Waterloo haven’t been as successful.
Hyerlove Cannabis Collective announced its closure at the end of June, less than five months after opening.
Down the block, Hunny Pot Cannabis, which opened last summer, is also closed for good.
Brad Davis, associate professor of marketing at Wilfrid Laurier University says the closures are a strong sign the shops were too clustered together.
“I don't know if you'd find too many locations anywhere where you have five stores offering basically the same product in close proximity and all five are going to survive,” said Davis.
With no shortage of options, Davis said there could be even further closures in the area.
Sweet Seven Cannabis is one of the three Uptown stores still standing – and they’re feeling the crunch.
“There is a concern for dispensaries - cannabis stores - that are open, and still opening in the city but also how near they are to each other,” said Sweet Seven Cannabis manager Carmen Menendez.
While experts point to small profit margins and the high costs of being located in urban areas, places like Sweet Seven say it's not only selling the same products that makes competition tough, it's going up against the larger corporations that can afford to offer their product at a lower price.
“They are trying to put the price under the OCS [Ontario Cannabis Store] price which is very hard to compete with,” said Menendez. “It's impossible to compete with that.”
WHAT CITY HAS THE MOST CANNABIS STORES?
According to the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO), the number of cannabis shops in each region varies, with each shop being designated as authorized to open, in the process of opening or in the public meeting phase.
The AGCO lists the cities within Waterloo region and Guelph with the following number of cannabis shops:
Kitchener: 37
Waterloo: 26
Guelph: 25
Cambridge: 17
Elmira: 2
Petersburg: 1
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.