National Access Cannabis (NAC) is currently the largest private cannabis retailer by store count with 17 stores opening in just over a month.
NAC acquired the NewLeaf brand in September by purchasing The Green Company Ltd to enhance its footprint in Alberta. Eight NewLeaf locations have received cannabis retail licenses and are expected to open this week in Alberta. NAC also operates the META brand and plans to open another store in Manitoba this week.
NAC’s Retail Plans for META and NewLeaf
NAC is looking to open a total of 50 locations between META and NewLeaf across Canada by the end of the year and plans to have a total of 150 retail locations operational during 2019, subject to regulatory approvals.
“NAC, META and NewLeaf have quickly become established and effective leaders in Canada’s cannabis retail market,” says Mark Goliger, CEO of NAC. “We have a bold vision to lead recreational cannabis retail in this country and to date, we have backed that up in a big way.”
NAC’s Alberta presence more than doubles with 13 NewLeaf retail stores
With this week’s openings, NewLeaf grows in size by 160% in Alberta. NewLeaf now has 13 of Alberta’s 65 licensed stores, the most in the province for any retailer.
Customized training program the key to NewLeaf success
In early September, NewLeaf launched a customized, in-house employee training program in fully built stores. This best-practice program has since been implemented for more than 275 NewLeaf and META employees in Alberta and Manitoba as part of their retail training and education.
“Cannabis is coming out of a long period of prohibition, which has led to many misconceptions, and a lot of misinformation,” said Sarah Bezanson, Director of Training for NewLeaf Cannabis. “We wanted a program that would address that frankly and provide a scientific grounding in cannabis for our staff, equipping them to share that knowledge with our community.”