EDMONTON —
On October 17 2018, people lined up to be among the first to buy cannabis legally in Canada.
“Definitely been an exciting journey,” Joshua Vera, president and founder of Elevate said.
Vera got his retail licence two weeks after legalization. He his store ready to go, but he had no cannabis to sell.
“There was a severe shortage, which for some retailers forced them to close their doors for a period of time.”
It took a month to get enough supply to open his doors for the first time. Fast forward two years, supply is no longer an issue, and he’s opened a second location.
“It was definitely frustrating at the start, but with any new industry, there’s going to be some growing pains so we took it in stride.”
“We’ve seen some things that didn’t go so well, but there’s definitely been a maturation,” said Miguel Martin, president of Aurora. “And I think a greater sophistication as the companies better understand the consumers,…