Alcanna Welcomes Ontario Government Cannabis Retail Announcement

EDMONTON, Alberta, Dec. 13, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Alcanna Inc. (the “Company” or “Alcanna”) (TSX: CLIQ), owner of the Nova Cannabis store brand, today congratulated Premier Ford, Minister Downey and the Government of Ontario for opening up retail cannabis licensing in the province.

“Ontario has just taken a tremendous step in getting cannabis out of the hands of black-market criminals and into safe, regulated legal hands,” said James Burns, Alcanna’s CEO and Vice Chair. “Nova Cannabis will open stores carefully and calculatedly in Ontario as we have done in Alberta. All stores are not equal. Great real estate is the best way to ensure long term viability and profitability in retail and we will only build on great sites in Ontario as we have done in Alberta.”

“Subject to getting the right real estate, Alcanna is targeting 10 Nova Cannabis stores in Ontario by August 31, 2020 and another 10-15 by year end. We anticipate getting to the limit of 30 before September 2021 and pursuing additional stores up to the 75 maximum as market conditions and site opportunities arise. Unlike poorly capitalised competitors, Alcanna has the financial capacity to build out the Ontario market without needing to access capital markets. And that same financial strength gives us the edge - as always - with quality landlords to secure the best sites because they can be assured of the rent being paid for the full duration of the lease,” Mr. Burns said. “Nova Cannabis Queen Street West has shown that allowing retailers with experience is the key to long term consumer acceptance of legal cannabis and the demise of the black market. Nova will continue to take the lead in making this happen in Ontario.”

ABOUT ALCANNA INC.: The Art of Responsible Retail

Alcanna is one of the largest private sector retailers of alcohol in North America and the largest in Canada by number of stores – operating 255 locations in Alberta, British Columbia and Alaska. The Company currently operates 16 cannabis retail stores under the “Nova Cannabis” brand, with 15 in the Province of Alberta and one in Toronto, Ontario and anticipates an additional 15 Nova Cannabis locations will be licensed in the Province of Alberta by the end of 2019. With revenues in excess of $700 million per year, Alcanna processes over 20 million individual retail transactions of beverage alcohol and cannabis.