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3 | W aterloo C hronicle | T hursday,June 24,2021 w aterloochronicle.ca Bardish.Chagger@parl.gc.ca - Prime Minister Justin Trudeau "What makes Canada special is not the belief that this is the best country in the world -- it's the knowledge that we could be, and that we will keep working to build that country. Because no challenge we face will be too great, if we face it together." Bardish.Chagger Bardish_Chagger BardishKW 519-746-1573 Member of Parliament for Waterloo HAPPY CANADA DAY Hyperlove might be coming uptown, but according to Roberto Menendez at Sweet Seven, some- one could get hurt. "I don't know what's going to happen," Menendez said of the lo- cal cannabis market that's seen the number of retailers more than triple since he opened his shop last year at the southwest corner of King Street North and Bridegport Road. During a recent drive through downtown Kitchener, Menendez said he was shocked to see the concentration of cannabis shops in the area of King Street West and Queen Street South, where there's at least a handful open or underway. "It doesn't make any sense to me," he said. "Hopefully that doesn't happen in Waterloo, be- cause I think people will get hurt (financially), and that's unfortu- nate." The Sweet Seven Cannabis Co. was the second licensed cannabis shop to open in the city after Bud & Sally, which is now a Canna Ca- bana located on the opposite side of King Street South, adjacent to Waterloo Town Square. Competition can be a good thing, and two's company, as the saying goes. But since that time, five other retail stores have opened across the city, with 11 other applications currently in the works. Three of those are in the immediate vicinity of the up- town area. The façade for the Hunny Pot Cannabis Co. appears ready, just steps away from the Canna Ca- bana on King Street South, across from the LCBO; Hyperlove stickers with QR codes are visible in the window of 1 King St. N., where a former coworking space was located at the corner of Erb Street; and construction is un- derway for Uptown Herb in the former Uptown Zoo, located be- side Prohibition Warehouse off Princess Street East. Session 7 opened this sporing in the university district at 220 King St. N., conveniently across from the Hotel Laurier resi- dence. Store manager Paco Casillas hasn't seen what a full post-sec- ondary student population might bring and he's banking on stu- dents coming back to boost busi- ness this fall. In his opinion, how- ever, the market appears to be saturated at the moment. Sessions Cannabis opened earlier this year across from Con- estoga Mall. According to the Al- cohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario, there are two other applications underway along King Street North. Two Tokyo Smoke stores have also opened -- one in the Univer- sity Plaza and one on Erb Street West -- as well as the Chamba Cannabis Co. on University East, in the FreshCo plaza at Bridge Road. In an emailed statement, Chamba said it's also concerned about the saturation point of how many cannabis dispensaries can actually be supported in the re- gion and survive the onslaught of approvals the AGCO has issued. "It has created a very challeng- ing market and while we are in no way fearful of fair and equitable competition, there does come a point when the population of the region cannot support so many," it said. "What will happen to the small business owners like Chamba who have put their life savings in- to these businesses, not to men- tion the jobs they have created for the economic benefit of the re- gion?" After Canada legalized mari- juana in 2018, Ontario introduced a lottery system to award retail li- cences before allowing anyone to apply. The application fee to become a cannabis retailer costs $10,000, but many have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars setting up shop. Chamba wants the province to implement measures that limit how many cannabis retail store applications can be approved. If the AGCO continues to scale at the pace they have been with no oversight, they will create market conditions that will only allow big brand names with deep pocket to survive, Chamba's own- ers said. "Something has to be done so that we don't have the 'Walmarts of weed' who only care about the bottom line." However, the AGCO said it has no authority or control over store locations other than the fact they need to be at least 150 metres from schools. In February, it said that it was moving to 30 authoriza- tions per week, and as of Monday, June 14, 773 cannabis shops were allowed to be open in Ontario. That number is only expected to grow in the foreseeable future. According to a search on the AGCO's website, there have been at least 28 cannabis retail store applications approved in Water- loo region so far and there are outstanding applications for doz- ens more. For those already in opera- tion, COVID-19 has made it diffi- cult to connect one-on-one and form relationships with custom- ers. With a limited-capacity re- CANNABIS RETAILERS CONCERNED ABOUT POTENTIAL GLUT The Hunny Pot Cannabis Co. is coming to Waterloo on King Street South. Bill Jackson/Metroland BILL JACKSON bjackson@torstar.ca NEWS BETTER CONTROL NEEDED TO PREVENT 'WALMARTS OF WEED,' COMPANY SAYS See 'CLUSTERING', page 26