In the first five days of marijuana legalization in Canada, a producer that operates five cannabis stores in Alberta made approximately $1.3 million.
Alcanna, which operates five Nova Cannabis stores across the province, released the financial information in a rare move on Tuesday.
Between the 10 a.m. opening on Wednesday, Oct. 17 and the 10 p.m. closing on Sunday, Oct. 21, Alcanna processed approximately 17,000 separate transactions and sold approximately 68,000 individual SKUs.
The average dollar amount of each transaction was two to three times that of an average Liquor Depot transaction, Alcanna said in a news release. The company said dried cannabis flower was in high demand, with strains high in THC being the most popular.
“These figures are truly impressive,” Alcanna Inc. CEO James Burns said. “But we certainly need to put them in perspective since they are reflective of both the novelty of legalization finally happening and the very limited number of retail outlets that were able to get open for Oct. 17.”
In Alberta, there were 17 cannabis stores licensed to open and sell marijuana on Oct. 17.
There are two Nova Cannabis locations in Edmonton, and one each in Calgary, Spruce Grove and Fort Saskatchewan. Sales at all of the stores were “relatively consistent,” according to Alcanna, which said all five locations experienced lineups in the first five days of legalization.
“Alcanna’s experience in controlled-substance retail and financial strength enabled us to have sufficient inventory on hand to last right through opening weekend,” Burns said. “It is a positive start to the long road of getting the black market out of cannabis.”
Watch below: Video from the Global 1 news helicopter shows the lineups outside two Edmonton cannabis stores and one in St. Albert on legalization day, Oct. 17
Since last Wednesday, demand for legal pot has been consistently high at retailers throughout Alberta, which continue to experience daily lineups out the door. Some stores in Edmonton ran out of product late last week.
Between 12:01 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 17, the Alberta cannabis website — the only legal online outlet for purchasing cannabis in the province — sold $730,000 worth of pot products.
The website continues to add new stock and now offers 99 different products, 19 of which were out of stock as of Tuesday afternoon.
The Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis Commission, which operates the online store, has said it will not continue to provide daily sales statistics beyond the first day of legalization. As part of government reporting requirements, revenue and sales information will be released quarterly.
As of Tuesday afternoon, there are now 31 licensed cannabis retail outlets in Alberta, 10 of which are in Calgary and six of which are in Edmonton.
Alcanna is one of the largest private sector retailers of alcohol in North America and the largest in Canada – owning and operating 228 locations in Alberta, B.C. and Alaska.
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