Like anyone that grew up with a sport or activity, it’s easy to look back and realize in hindsight the lessons learned during the trials and tribulations of “playing” – these activities likely taught us more about life than school ever could. My sport was hockey. I was never very good, but I spent a lot of time working at it. With hockey, win/lose/draw, there was always something to be taken away from the game. As with anything, some days had lessons that stuck more than others. One of those moments came to mind this week: we were in a playoff game and the calls seemed to all be going against us. We were falling into the trap of complaining about the referees and losing focus on the task at hand. I remember vividly my old coach Dallas saying (yelling) “enough about the refs! Control what you can control.” We couldn’t do anything about how the calls were being made, but we could certainly do a better job covering off the defensive zone and making lower risk plays on offence – in that case, what was the better use of energy: complaining or working smarter/harder? (at the time, I likely complained more… lessons.)

As many will have noted, Matt Lamers did a nice job summarizing the taxes levied in the cannabis space in fiscal 2021-2022. I’m not alone in having done the quick math on the percentage of total revenue that went to various forms of government during that fiscal (it was a lot) and became frustrated. Of course, the frustration comes on the heels of a constant flow of news regarding CCAAs and layoffs of companies we thought could never lose in the cannabis space. Pile onto that the news that not one store opened in Ontario in January 2023 (but there were closures) – it would seem reasonable to become negative on the space. To complain even.

Alas, we all knew the government regulations (ish) when we committed to getting into the cannabis industry. We all knew the approximate market size when stores started to open (in fact, some would say the market has exceeded expectations). We knew how typical CPG entities operated in conjunction with their suppliers and retail partners. The excitement and frenzy of attempting “to be first” may have clouded some of this judgement, but we knew these facts from the start. There is a right-sizing underway in the space: sadly, good people will be impacted by this right-sizing, but in the end, we all joined to serve the end consumer – that end consumer will ultimately determine which products will be sold at what price and where. And along the way, the various levels of government will take their pound of flesh, as they promised taxpayers they would.

With that in mind, as much as we want to slam fists on the table complaining about the feeling of inequity in the industry, I also am reminded of that quote: “Control what you can control.”

We accepted the maturation process in the cannabis industry would be just like any other: there will be ebbs and flows in all areas of the supply chain until the proper marrying of supply and demand. It’s been less than four years since the first (legal) store opened in Ontario and now there are over 1,500. This is absurd growth. Do we think each of these stores is in the ideal spot to serve guests? Do we think each of these stores is properly built and positioned for the long term? Do we think each of these brands is predicated on what the end consumer is really looking for? We previously wrote about coffee shop growth from the 1960s to today: that industry took ~40 years for maturity to really sink in, with a few players serving the majority of guests while a handful of one-off shops serve specific audiences in each market. The cannabis space is proving that it likely won’t take 40 years to reach that level of maturity, but it can’t be expected to have happened in a tenth of that time.

We at Northern Helm and J. Supply Co. are lucky to work with an exceptional group of partners across all facets of the business. Be it the amazing store owner Licensees, vendors, and team members, all parties are focused on delivering on what the guests in our stores want. This is awesome. Do we get distracted and sometimes falter? Yes, we’re human, but overall, we keep each other focused and for that, I cannot be more grateful. On the back of all the negative news in the press, there is new light in our proverbial tunnel: the latest Northern Helm location will open this week at 514 King Street East in Toronto. This is the same great team that opened the first Northern Helm on the Danforth: they’ve taken everything they learned on the Danforth to ensure the best possible guest experience from day 1 at this new King Street East location! 

We can’t wait to show you this incredible new store and we invite you to come out to this new location on or after March 8 to experience the incremental lessons layered into this new location. We can’t control the news cycle, but we can control the level of service provided to our guests and we’re looking forward to serving you soon.