Which Edmonton neighborhoods have the most cannabis stores?

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Data from the City of Edmonton shows that a handful of neighborhoods are home to the bulk of the city’s cannabis stores.

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A December listing of cannabis retail stores identified that more than half of these businesses’ 162 retail licenses were located in four of the city’s 12 neighborhoods: O-day’min in the center (26 ), Karhiio in the southeast (24), Anirniq in the northwest (23) and papastew in south-central Edmonton (14).

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Joshua Vera, president and CEO of Elevate, has stores in three of these neighborhoods, including locations downtown, adjacent to the Ice District and the Dominion Industrial Area along 118th Avenue and from 145th Street, as well as a stop at the cannabis stand on Gateway Boulevard near 61st Street.

While the concentration in certain areas may seem intentional, its experience since legalization has seen retailers, especially independent owners, struggle and scramble to find suitable storefronts across the city.

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« It was just a challenge trying to find a location that wasn’t already occupied or locked down by one of the larger conglomerates, » he said.

As for downtown appeal, he said many hopeful homeowners were likely drawn to the area’s dense population and foot traffic. But that does not mean that a store in the city center is a guaranteed success.

“Even though the city center is so densely populated, there aren’t a lot of parking spaces and not everyone is out during the winter months, so that’s going to impact your ability to do sales, » he said, adding that demographics also play a key role. . « You can have all the people in the world around you, but if none of them use cannabis, it won’t work very well. »

Curtis Martel, president of Mountain Standard Cannabis, has four locations in the city, including two in the central areas of Queen Mary Park and Spruce Avenue, as well as stores in Balwin and Killarney.

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The latter two are part of Ward tastawiyiniwak, one of the least popular neighborhoods for cannabis stores with only six licenses listed by the city.

Like Vera, Martel agreed that no location is a boon for retailers and that meeting demographic needs is more important.

However, he also said that even areas with fewer stores pose problems.

“Even low-concentration areas have too high a concentration,” he said. « You can walk to another store from almost anywhere in Edmonton. »

The Balwin location is not as busy as it had hoped after a year of operation, and the opening of other nearby stores has corresponded with a drop in sales, Martel said.

« Now I think everyone is at the point where they’re waiting – hoping the market grows and the competition goes down. »

hissawi@postmedia.com

@hamdiissawi