High Tide (HITI.V) announced today that its new Meta Cannabis retail store has begun selling recreational cannabis products for adult use.

“The opening of this new Ottawa store represents yet another milestone towards our commitment to open 30 branded retail locations across Ontario by September of this year…The ByWard Market store will follow our unique one-stop cannabis shop model in this iconic and high traffic neighbourhood,” said Raj Grover, President and Chief Executive Officer of High Tide.

Meta Cannabis will be located at 87 Clarence St. Ottawa, Ontario and will represent the Company’s 83rd branded retail location across Canada and its 17th in Ontario. Meta Cannabis is located in the ByWard Market, one of Ottawa’s major tourist destinations. With this in mind, the ByWard market experiences high traffic daily with a diverse offering of retail stores and restaurants. After living in Ottawa for a year and countless trips to Sugar Mountain, I can wholeheartedly say that the ByWard Market’s popularity is well deserved.

However, cannabis retailers located in the ByWard Market are few and far between. As of June 2020, Hobo and Fire & Flower were the only two cannabis retailers in the area. According to an article written by CBC, five other retailers applied for permits with the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) during this time. With that being said, the magic of the ByWard Market lies within its retail diversity. An oversaturation of cannabis retailers could impact other businesses and divert the market’s traffic to limited areas. With this in mind, High Tide has been accepted as one of the few cannabis retailers permitted to operate in the ByWard Market. This represents a significant milestone for High Tide and could prove to be very profitable for the Company.

High Tides share price opened at $0.60 today and quickly reached a high of $0.66 following the news. The Company’s share price currently sits at $0.64 and is up 6.78% as of 12:54PM ET.