Hunny Gawri is one of many sole proprietors, without prior experience in either the retail space or the cannabis space, that won the lottery in January
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario says its “too early to say” how many of the 25 designated brick-and-mortar cannabis retail stores will be in operation by the provincially mandated deadline of April 1.
Gawri has never owned, operated or worked in the retail space, but says that his previous experience as a realtor helped him prepare for how “rushed” the process was. “From the day I found out I won, I knew there was a big challenge ahead of me, but I’ve always been up for challenges in the business environment.”
Gawri is one of many sole proprietors, without prior experience in either the retail space or the cannabis space that won the cannabis lottery in January. The system of opening up legal cannabis retail to anyone has been heavily criticized by those already involved in some capacity in the cannabis industry, who argue that winners lacking the right experience will simply delay the process of getting legal stores up and running.
Many of those deals were successful. Cannabis retail chain High Tide Inc. — whose major investor is licensed producer Aurora Cannabis Inc. — has struck deals with three lottery winners in the province, while Canopy Growth Corp. is lending its Tweed brand name to a lottery winner in London, Ont. To date, only 10 out of the 25 lottery winners have obtained a Retail Store Authorization licence, one of the final stages before being allowed to open their doors to the public. Once the RSA licence is issued, owners have to go through a Retail Pre-Opening Inspection, a process which involves an AGCO official inspecting everything from store signage to testing out the store’s point-of-sale tracking system.Hunny Gawri On that front, Gawri says his dealings with the AGCO have been “smooth.
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