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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, S ep te m be r 24 ,2 02 0 | 2 SAVE BIG TODAY! CLOSING AFTER 49 YEARS OUT OFOUT OF GOINGGOING BUSINESSBUSINESS RETIREMENTRETIREMENT SALE!SALE! Furniture Wonderland PUBLIC NOTICE!PUBLIC NOTICE! STARTS SEPT. 25STARTS SEPT. 25 SHOP EARLY FOR BEST SELECTION! MON-FRI 10-8, SAT. 10-6, SUN. 11-5 ALL SALES FINAL www.furniturewonderland.ca 71 KINGSBURY DRIVE, KITCHENER, OFF HWY. 8 AT THE WEBER ST. EXIT 519.893.2979 OUT OF TOWN CALL 1.800.667.5898 Waterloo's first retail cannabis store, Bud & Sally, opened with high hopes on Friday, March 13. "What could go wrong?" reads a wryly written press release, announcing recent- ly that the uptown store has been bought by Meta Growth, one of the country's larg- est retail cannabis operations. Back in July, Meta announced it had ex- ecuted a share purchase agreement to ac- quire the Bud & Sally recreational canna- bis retail store for total cash consideration of $1.15 million. The acquisition was subject to Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario ap- proval and closed in late August. According to a press release, the Bud & Sally Cannabis Co. store achieved $172,385 in weekly revenue for the week ended Aug.15, with a 37.2 per cent gross margin. Representatives with Meta weren't im- mediately available to say what the plans are for the new location or whether it would be rebranded or reformatted any time soon. Outgoing Bud & Sally operator John Radostits, an Alberta businessman, said jobs totalling about 20 are being retained at the Waterloo location, which was one of his main concerns before leaving. "Bud and Sally will continue to provide the same great service with the same great people," he said. It was Radostits' wife who won the li- cence for the Waterloo location. The store offered the widest selection of cannabis products in the province and was performing well near the end, he said. It was featured by the Ontario Cannabis Store as one of three retailers that made their mark in 2020. But Radostits said COVID-19 took its toll on their aspirations to build the brand in Ontario. Its opening on March 14 was overshad- owed by concern. Then, thousands of post- secondary students moved home. Cannabis stores were forced to close in early April after not making the list of es- sential businesses that could remain open, and with the store being new it didn't qual- ify for any federal or provincial govern- ment subsidy programs. This left the business with no option but to lay off 25 of 28 staff. "We quickly pivoted and focused the business to online sales. We rebuilt our website and bolted together a fully opera- tional online retail offering and started selling online," Radostits said. "As things changed, we changed, but we stayed alert and vigilant." The store partnered with other "open but struggling" local businesses to support each other, sharing Instagram posts and contests. "But we had an opportunity, and that was about an ability and potential to build a brand in southwestern Ontario," said Ra- dostits, whose background includes build- ing the largest franchisee group under the Sobeys banner in Canada, before selling it back to the national grocery giant. "I would say with all the dynamics and the changes I felt that opportunity had dwindled to the point that the best thing for the brand and the team was to join a big organization," Radostits told the Chroni- cle. "It's one of those things you never know what is before you, and you respond and re- act as you go." According to a new release last month, Meta Growth Corp. and High Tide Inc. en- tered into a definitive arrangement agree- ment in which High Tide will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of Meta Growth. Meta Cannabis Co., Meta Canna- bis Supply Co. and NewLeaf Cannabis re- tail stores will be joining the High Tide re- tail enterprise network. The companies say they are merging to create a behemoth with 63 locations across Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatch- ewan, as well as $133 million in annual rev- enue. It is expected that, subject to receipt of all regulatory, court, shareholder and oth- er approvals, the merger will be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020. Growth plans include nearly doubling the existing foot- print to approximately 115 locations by the end of 2021, with a focus on Ontario, Cana- da's largest cannabis market. Meta announced that it had also execut- ed an asset purchase agreement to acquire the Meta Cannabis Co. branded recre- ational cannabis store in Kitchener. CANNABIS SHOP CHANGING HANDS Waterloo's weed shop, the Bud & Sally Cannabis Co. Torstar file photo NEWS BILL JACKSON bjackson@torstar.ca OPPORTUNITY TO GROW BRAND DWINDLED DUE TO COVID-19, SAYS FORMER SHOP OWNER