Prairie Records stores coming to downtown
Calgary, Edmonton's University District and
Banff National Park
CALGARY, Oct. 28, 2019 /CNW/ - Westleaf Inc. (the
"Company" or "Westleaf") (TSX-V:WL) (OTCQB:WSLFF) is
pleased to announce development of its proposed next three key
Alberta retail locations for its
award-winning retail concept Prairie Records which include a
location in the historic Palace Theatre on Calgary's Stephen Avenue, one directly beside
the University of Alberta main campus
in Edmonton and the Company's
flagship store in the heart of Banff,
Alberta, one of Canada's
most visited tourist destinations (collectively, the "Retail
Locations"). Opening of the Retail Locations is subject to
final retail cannabis licence approval by Alberta Gaming, Liquor
and Cannabis ("AGLC").
"We have always maintained our Prairie Records retail
brand would be a premium cannabis retail experience, and these
three locations are premium retail locations," said Scott Hurd, President and CEO of Westleaf.
"These three stores check off all the boxes of our retail concept,
high foot traffic locations in urban settings and resort
destinations, as well as being in Alberta, which continues to lead the country
in legal cannabis retail."
The Company's Prairie Records branded cannabis stores
combine the inherent connection between music and cannabis in a
highly immersive retail experience. The Prairie Records
stores were recently awarded top Canadian cannabis retailer at the
Grow UP Conference and Expo. The retail stores are an integral part
of Westleaf's vertically integrated strategy providing the Company
a valuable portal to the consumer as well as an outlet for its own
branded products which are expected to come to market in the coming
months.
Further details on the Retail Locations now in development
follow:
- Palace Theatre: Situated at the centre of Stephen Avenue
(219 8th Avenue SW) in downtown Calgary, this store will be part of the
historic Palace Theatre which opened its doors in 1921. Now a busy
music venue at the heart of a pedestrian mall which hosts up to
30,000 pedestrians on a busy day. The Palace Theatre Prairie
Records store is expected to be only one of two cannabis stores
on the busy four block pedestrian stretch of Stephen Avenue;
- University of Alberta: The
first Prairie Records in the provincial capital will be
directly beside the University of
Alberta main campus (8623 112 St. NW) in the trendy Garneau
district. The U of A has a student population of close to 40,000 in
addition to the many permanent residents in the area;
- Banff National Park:
The Banff Prairie Records
location is expected in the historic King Edward Hotel (137 Banff
Avenue), adjacent to the busiest street corner in the town.
Banff is one of Canada's most visited tourist locations and
attracts around 4 million visitors from around the world each
year.
"These three stores, combined with the four Prairie
Records stores currently open, three in the Saskatoon region and one in Calgary, will enhance our retail footprint,"
noted Adam Coates, Westleaf's Chief
Commercial Officer. "But given these prominent and premium
locations, we anticipated that they will have an exceptional impact
on our brand and our Company."
Certain of Westleaf's current Prairie Records stores
continue to record margins that put them amongst the industry
leaders since opening. The Saskatoon Broadway and Saskatoon
Stonebridge Prairie Records locations have recorded gross
sales over the last 30 days of $249,945 and $283,351 respectively, and profits over that same
period of $93,400 for Broadway and
$106,633 for Stonebridge
respectively, or a 37.5% combined gross margin.
The cannabis retail landscape in Canada continues to improve month over month
with StatsCan reporting that in the month of August retail sales
totaled $127.3 million across
Canada and 18.6% month over month
increase. The retail environment in Alberta continues to lead the country, with
now more than 300 retail stores licenced and August sales for the
province totaling $24.8 million, a
16.3% month over month increase. With its open retail market,
Alberta has accounted for more
sales than any other province in the country since legalization,
edging out Ontario which has three
and half times the population but only a fraction of the stores
open. In the first 11 months of sales, there has been a total of
$807 million sold in legal retail and
online stores across Canada.
About Westleaf Inc.
Westleaf is a Canadian cannabis company focused on cannabis
brands, extraction and production of derivatives, wholly owned
retail, as well as cannabis cultivation. The Company's Health
Canada licensed extraction and processing facility, The
Plant, is expected to produce high quality and consistent
cannabis derivatives and consumables, both for Westleaf's in-house
brands as well as white label products. Westleaf's retail concept,
Prairie Records, leverages the instinctual tie between
recreational cannabis and music with stores operating or in
development across Western Canada. The Company's
Thunderchild cultivation facility is scheduled for
completion at the end of this year.
Neither TSXV nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility
for the adequacy or accuracy of this release
Cautionary Statements
This news release contains "forward-looking information" and
"forward-looking statements" (collectively, "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of the applicable Canadian
securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, are forward-looking statements and are based on
expectations, estimates and projections as at the date of this news
release. Any statement that involves discussions with respect to
predictions, expectations, beliefs, plans, projections, objectives,
assumptions, future events or performance (often but not always
using phrases such as "expects", or "does not expect", "is
expected", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", "plans",
"budget", "scheduled", "forecasts", "estimates", "believes" or
"intends" or variations of such words and phrases or stating that
certain actions, events or results "may" or "could", "would",
"might" or "will" be taken to occur or be achieved) are not
statements of historical fact and may be forward-looking
statements. In this news release, forward-looking statements relate
to, among other things, (i) retail cannabis stores that Westleaf
plans to open, including the Retail Locations; (ii) the
construction of Westleaf's production facilities and the timing for
completion of same; (iii) commencement of production at Westleaf's
production facilities; (iv) commencement of operations at the
Plant, its capacity to manufacture and extract cannabis derivative
products and corresponding scalability, its ability to provide a
competitive advantage by being adaptive to consumer needs and
material revenue that may be derived from its operations; (v)
products and brands to be produced from Westleaf's production
facilities and the products and services that Westleaf plans to
offer; (iv) timing of provincial and federal regulatory approvals,
including AGLC approval for the Retail Locations; (vii) timing of
legalization of certain derivative products and the anticipated
benefits and impact on Westleaf; (viii) changes in cannabis
consumption habits among Canadians; and (ix) the processing and
production capabilities of Westleaf's extracting and cultivation
facilities. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a
number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered
reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties,
and other factors which may cause the actual results and future
events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are
not limited to: risks relating to the ability to obtain or maintain
licenses to retail cannabis products, including final approval for
the Retail Locations; review of Westleaf's production facilities by
Health Canada and receipt of licenses from Health Canada in respect
thereof; future legislative and regulatory developments involving
cannabis, including the passing of regulations regarding derivative
cannabis products; inability to access sufficient capital from
internal and external sources, and/or inability to access
sufficient capital on favourable terms; the labour market generally
and the ability to access, hire and retain employees; the ability
of Westleaf's production facilities to operate and perform at peak
production; general business, economic, competitive, political and
social uncertainties; the satisfaction of conditions precedent
under Westleaf's credit facilities; timing and completion of
construction of Westleaf's production facilities and retail
locations; and the delay or failure to receive board, ATB Financial
or regulatory approvals, including any approvals of the TSX Venture
Exchange, as applicable. There can be no assurance that such
statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future
events could differ materially from those anticipated in such
statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on
the forward-looking statements and information contained in this
news release. Except as required by law, Westleaf assume no
obligation to update the forward-looking statements of beliefs,
opinions, projections, or other factors, should they change, except
as required by law.
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SOURCE Westleaf Inc.