Kamloops city staff a dozen retail cannabis stores are expected to be open by next spring.
Business license inspector Dave Jones says there are five stores open now and seven more have been approved in principle.
The private stores open now include The Shore Cannabiz Shop on the North Shore and Wizards and Shades of Green Cannabis, both located downtown. Shades of Green Cannabis, on Victoria Street, has opened for business as of today; management says the store plans to hold a grand opening once it is fully operational.
Government cannabis stores are also open on the North Shore and in Lower Sahali.
“I would suspect maybe a couple more open in Kamloops before the end of this year, and then again, once the renovations are complete on those other ones. So we’ll have probably three government stores and also probably another eight or nine total of private stores in town,” Jones says, adding a private cannabis store in Valleyview is also close to opening.
The city has supported 21 retail cannabis store applications, and Jones says seven are still waiting in the queue for a provincial sales license.
“Those seven are owned and operated by companies that may have a few more directors and few more people involved. So the process, that fit and proper check by the government, is probably going to take a little bit longer on those ones. So those bigger companies can probably expect a couple of delay yet.”
Meanwhile, Liquor Distribution Branch spokesperson Vivivana Zanocco says a third government cannabis store in Kamloops, in the Lansdowne Centre downtown, is now expected to open in early 2020, after originally being expected to open this fall.
There are also two retail cannabis stores open on the Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc reserve.