Nine private recreational stores set to open nationwide beginning April 2019
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 11, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Donnelly Group, the Canadian hospitality company, today confirms its new cannabis retail venture. Nine locations of Hobo Recreational Cannabis Store (“Hobo”) are set to open in rapid succession across B.C. and Ontario beginning April 2019.
Eight stores are now confirmed for B.C., including locations on Granville Street, Main Street, and Commercial Drive.
The first Hobo location will launch in Ottawa, Ontario on April 1st, coinciding with the rollout of the province’s new private retail model. The store, located on Bank Street in Centretown, was home to one of the city’s most popular dispensaries and will re-open this spring under the operation of Hobo through the acquisition of one of five highly coveted Eastern Ontario licenses. The Hobo concept will articulate Donnelly Group’s mastery and appetite for disruptive ideas, synergy of concept and culture, and progressive attitudes both in brand and service.
“With two decades of consumer hospitality experience and regulatory know-how, Hobo Recreational Cannabis Store felt very natural for Donnelly Group,” says Harrison Stoker, VP Brand & Culture at Donnelly Group. “We’re dedicated to creating great gathering places for communities across Canada. The result of that dedication is a certain expertise in the areas of sourcing viable lease locations and navigating the regulatory framework around licensing. This has proved invaluable for our new venture, Hobo. Looking forward to the launch of our first nine retail locations in the coming months, our aim is to apply our experience to make the Hobo cannabis experience disarming, compassionate and, fundamentally, human.”
With an emphasis on delivering a modern, approachable cannabis browsing and buying experience, each of Hobo’s nine locations will employ a contemporary aesthetic rooted in simple, functional design and feature a well-considered product range and frictionless technology. As a testament to Hobo’s commitment to the consumer experience and the reinvigoration of Canada’s waning cannabis culture, each Hobo location will reflect its host neighbourhood and feature elements of the community’s aesthetic amid a welcoming atmosphere.
“While the venture may be new, our ethos remains the same,” says Jeff Donnelly, Founder and President at Donnelly Group. “Be true to yourself and your neighbourhood; the people will follow.”
Hobo is now focused on recruitment and hiring initiatives to support its aggressive national rollout over the coming months.
About Hobo Recreational Cannabis Store
Hobo Recreational Cannabis Store, a Donnelly Group venture, is a Canadian collection of privately-owned retail cannabis stores with locations in B.C. and Ontario set to open starting April 2019. With an emphasis on delivering a modern, approachable retail experience, each of Hobo’s nine locations will employ a contemporary aesthetic rooted in simple, functional design and feature a well-considered product range and frictionless technology. As a testament to Hobo’s commitment to the consumer experience and the reinvigoration of Canada’s waning cannabis culture, each Hobo location will reflect its host neighbourhood and feature elements of the community’s aesthetic amid a welcoming atmosphere. Hobo Recreational Cannabis Store plans to hire over 200 retail positions in the coming months.
About Donnelly Group
Donnelly Group is an award winning and diversified hospitality company, operating in both Vancouver and Toronto. With a collection of brands including public houses, cocktail taverns and barbershops whose values reflect strength in community, an emphasis on great food, honest beer and spirits, paired with a disruptive design and the desire to create a genuinely human experience.
In Vancouver, Donnelly Group, operates pubs Blackbird, Lamplighter, Butcher & Bullock, Library Square, Cinema, New Oxford, Tavern, Three Brits, Railway Stage and Sing Sing, cocktail clubs Granville Room and Clough Club, five barbershops under Barber & Co, as well as restaurant, Royal Dinette. In Toronto it operates pubs Belfast Love, Death & Taxes, Walrus, Pong Bar, cocktail club Gift Shop, two barbershops under Barber & Co, and Lovejoy Cafe. For more information, visit donnellygroup.ca