The latest Statistics Canada numbers on legal REC sales hit $127.3M in August, surpassing July’s $104.5M and June’s $91.5M, the biggest monthly increase to date.
Stats Can, Twitter—David George-Cosh
- Much of the sales surge occurred as BC is finally speeding its REC retail rollout, having increased its stores to 94 last month from only 14 in March. BC’s sales spiked by 100.2% between July (5,965) and August (11,943).
Twitter—Aaron W. Anderson, MJ Biz Daily - The national average for REC sales increased by 18.6% between July and August, while most provinces’ sales increased between roughly 9% and 16% during that period, even as no new stores opened in Quebec.
Twitter—David George-Cosh
New Brunswick charted a striking 59% increase in sales, while Yukon sales increased by only 1.8%. Manitoba’s REC sales actually declined by 1.7%.
- Ontario led with total sales ($33.7M), though Alberta banked the most in profits ($24.8M).
GrowthOp - High per-store sales resulted from retail scarcity, and retailers may expect declining sales as competition improves.
The Province
BC is eager to keep the momentum going, especially since the Business Council of BC forecasted feeble economic growth in the province. Solicitor general Mark Farnworth is working to develop a framework to allow widely desired farm-gate sales by LPs at their production sites, which would be a boon to the province’s burgeoning craft industry.
Business in Vancouver, Twitter—Mike Hager, Business In Vancouver
- Farnworth stressed he didn’t want to see the REC landscape “dominated by one or two large-scale variety of producers.”
CTV News - He also said his government was working on changing provincial laws banning the sale of “non-cannabis-related” items in REC stores.
Vancouver REC store Village Bloomery asked LP sales reps to kindly stop harshing their vibes by shaking staff down for sales numbers and hovering eerily around customers.
Village Bloomery
Kitchener felt the sales boom as local LP James E Wagner announced it was looking to hire 400 workers over the course of 2020. The company hired the first 15 workers at a job fair last weekend, noting they were “overwhelmed” by interest from prospective hires.
CTV News
