Although this is Canada and not Colorado, it is interesting to see where Canada's cannabis industry may lead. Colorado is in their 6th year since going legal and have gone through many of the growing pains Canada is now experiencing.
Since recreational cannabis was legalized in Oct 2018 many Canadians have struggled to buy product in-person, given the scant number of storefronts.
Colorado shows just how far Canada has to go. The state legalized recreational marijuana in 2014, and today it has more than 560 recreational outlets serving a population of some 5.7 million. Put another way, Colorado has roughly 10 stores for every 100,000 residents. Canada's population is 37.6 million, nearly 7 times that of Colorado.
So, to match Colorado’s store density, how many stores would each province need to add? AltaCorp Capital tackled this question in a recent research note.
The short answer: significantly more.
Over all, Canada has just over 360 actual or planned retail locations – or 10 per cent of the 3,640 locations that AltaCorp says are needed to match Colorado’s density. (Numbers as of fall 2019)
The shortage is less severe in some parts of the country, but glaring in others. For instance, in Ontario, the first licensed cannabis stores didn’t open until April, and only 25 store licenses have been issued to date. Though not every store has opened, the planned 25 amounts to 0.2 stores for every 100,000 residents. To close the gap with Colorado, Ontario would need to add nearly 1,400 stores, AltaCorp found.
Canada needs more brick-and-mortar retail stores,” AltaCorp said. Cannabis sales growth has been “weak,” the firm added, and it attributes a big part of that to the “lack of physical retailers across the country.”
To be sure, Canadian consumers have not been entirely shut out: e-commerce channels have been open across the country since Day One. However, the early months of cannabis legalization have been marked by supply shortages – one factor that’s contributed to the sluggish retail rollout.
Moreover, AltaCorp said the in-person retail experience can be crucial.“The legal recreational cannabis market in Canada is in its infancy, and as such, a significant number of consumers will likely be first-time users without much knowledge of the different products and their effects,” the firm said. Poll numbers suggest that Canada had 640,000 new cannabis users in the first year of legalization.
Couple of more facts just for interest. Denver is Colorado's largest city with...
Recreational dispensaries - 169
Medicinal dispensaries - 195
Starbucks - 80
McDonalds - 31