The manager of Cannabis House in Edmonton has no idea how many people will pass through the doors Wednesday, but he’s guessing it will be “pretty crazy.”

Schmitt’s store is one of 17 retailers across Alberta to secure an interim cannabis licence from Alberta Gaming, Liquor and Cannabis (AGLC).

Fire and Flower has three stores opening in the province Wednesday, all in the Edmonton area.

Nathan Mison, vice-president of stakeholder and government relations, said Fire and Flower developed a training program called Cannabis 101 to make sure employees are ready. Frontline sales staff called ‘cannistas’ (“We’re trying to start the new barista,” Mison explains) will have 90 hours of training under their belts when they hit the sales floor.

“Our staff are chomping at the bit to get the doors open and show people what they’ve learned,” he said.

Stocking the shelves

Dealing with a provincial regulator isn’t always easy for a small business, but Schmitt and Mison seem impressed with the ease of their dealings with the arm’s-length government body.

“Whenever we ask questions, they get answered within half an hour. We’re never left hanging,” Schmitt said.

“They’re on our side and they’re there to make it easy for us — if it’s easy for us, it’s easy for them, and everyone’s happy.”

AGLC has limited products available to retailers at this point, but its catalogue will expand over the coming months.

Schmitt and his colleagues had a long think about what products would line the shelves on Wednesday, taking into account THC and CBD content and price. They settled on a broad selection with “something for everyone,” from customers who want to try cannabis for the first time to those with a high tolerance.

States in America that have legalized recreational cannabis have experienced product shortages, and Mison is steeling himself for the possibility here.

“But as licensed producers ramp up, that product will become more and more readily available,” he said.

Edmonton-area grower enters the market

Ready to fill that gap is Alberta-based Atlas Growers, a new line of business for local greenhouse owner Jim Hole.

Atlas’s 38,000-square-foot facility broke ground in Lac Ste. Anne County last summer. It has the capacity to produce more than 5,000 kg of dried cannabis each year and will be able to refine cannabis concentrates.

Atlas CEO and president Sheldon Croome says the explosion of medical cannabis across Europe makes this the perfect time to produce the plant.

“We have a passion to change medicine and help people who need it. On the business side, it’s an excellent market opportunity,” Croome says.

The big thing for Mison is ensuring Canada gets it right.

“The eyes of the world are on us,” he said.

“People are looking at Canada as global expansions of cannabis comes in. Canadian businesses have the opportunity to be the standard of how it will work, and take that to the world.”