Former fast-food restaurant being turned into cannabis retail store

CHAT News reached out to John Nickle, who owns the building and leases it for business owners. He says New Leaf Cannabis will be leasing the building to develop a retail cannabis operation, a fact the company confirmed Tuesday afternoon.

NewLeaf has previously submitted an application for a store on Third Street southeast, which was approved by the municipal planning commission last week. It will be heading to city council for final approval Monday night, along with eight other businesses.

Angus Taylor, chief administrative officer with NewLeaf, says they believe the location on Trans-Canada Way will be beneficial for both the companies and consumers.

“In general, if you look at all of the stores that are opening across the province, we’ve typically looked at locations that are sort of outside of downtown or core areas for the most part,” he said over the phone from Calgary on Tuesday. “We think that, as people become more accustomed to cannabis sales, they will trend towards their normal shopping habits, which means they’ll choose convenience, frankly, over most things.

“We think, in general, that putting a store close to where people live is a really great strategy.”

Taylor says the permits for the Trans-Canada Way store have been submitted to both the Alberta Gaming and Liquor Commission and the City of Medicine Hat, and are still awaiting approval.

If approved, Taylor says the company is hoping to open the location on Trans-Canada Way by the first week of November.

by Charles Lefebvre

Former fast-food restaurant being turned into cannabis retail store

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