Nova Cannabis makes $1.3 million from Alberta stores in first five days of legalization

EDMONTON–Alberta’s Nova Cannabis stores pulled in about $260,000 apiece after the first five days of legalization. Alcanna Inc., the company that owns the stores and also owns the Liquor Depot chain, released its numbers Tuesday morning, saying that while it would typically not disclose financial results, it has received an “unprecedented number of requests” to do so from shareholders, investors, analysts and media.

Nova Cannabis CEO James Burns is handed a customer's order from the vault in a Calgary store. ( Christina Ryan / Calgary Star Star Metro )

According to a press release, its five stores raked in a combined revenue of approximately $1.3 million from Wednesday morning through Sunday evening. “Given that all five stores experienced lineups from opening at 10 a.m. until closing at 10 p.m. each of the five days, and thus were operating at essentially full capacity, results per store were relatively consistent at all locations,” the release reads. Two of Nova’s opening-day stores are located in Edmonton. The other three are in Calgary, Fort Saskatchewan and Spruce Grove.

The stores processed about 17,000 transactions, and the average dollar amount of each transaction was two to three times that of an average purchase at Liquor Depot.

Dried cannabis flower was the biggest seller, with high-THC strains being most popular. “These figures are truly impressive,” Alcanna Inc. CEO James Burns said in a statement. “But we certainly need to put them in perspective since they are reflective of both the novelty of legalization finally happening and the very limited number of retail outlets that were able to get open for October 17th.” Alcanna is Canada’s biggest private-sector alcohol retailer, with 228 liquor stores in Alberta, B.C. and Alaska that bring in over $600 million a year. The company opened its first five Nova Cannabis stores in Alberta on Oct. 17. Kevin Maimann is an Edmonton-based reporter covering education and marijuana legalization. Follow him on Twitter: @TheMaimann