M&A

High Tide Continues Greening the Great White North

The acquisition of Crossroads Cannabis further grows High Tide’s retail market share in Canada.

Published

3 years ago

March 11, 2022

Brad Cheng

High Tide is taking over Crossroads Cannabis’s four Ontario retail stores. PHOTO CREDIT: HIGH TIDE

High Tide this week announced its acquisition of Crossroads Cannabis for CAD$2.5 million (US$1.96 million). The Calgary, Canada-based cannabis multi-platform retailer will add Crossroads’ four family-operated retail stores in Ontario to the High Tide portfolio.

Crossroads’ four shops are located in Stratford, Woodstock, Hanover and Markdale.

High Tide is a leading retail-focused cannabis company with global e-commerce assets including Grasscity.com, Smokecartel.com, Dailyhighclub.com and Dankstop.com. High Tide also operates the online CBD retail portals Nuleafnaturals.com, FABCBD.com and BlessedCBD.co.uk, as well as its wholesale distribution division under Valiant Distribution, which includes the licensed entertainment product manufacturer Famous Brandz.

High Tide’s drive to expand its brick-and-mortar operations has made it the largest Canadian retailer of recreational cannabis by total number of stores, with 111 current locations spanning Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. High Tide also operates cannabis retail “discount clubs” Canna Cabana and Meta Cannabis.

“As consolidation in the Canadian retail cannabis space has picked up steam, we have become the acquirer of choice. This has allowed us to be strategic in determining where to expand within Ontario, bringing our innovative discount club model to communities which we have not yet been able to serve directly,” High Tide president and CEO Raj Grover said in a statement.

High Tide’s innovations in brick-and-mortar retailing include retail kiosks featuring automated “smart lockers” to facilitate consumer cannabis purchases via cutting-edge vending technology.

“The pandemic has resulted in longer lead times to open stores organically, and by consolidating the retail landscape through accretive acquisitions, we are keeping up the momentum of overall store expansion. We expect to announce more retail store acquisitions in the near term as we move towards our goal of reaching 150 stores by the end of calendar 2022,” Grover said.

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Brad Cheng

Brad Cheng is the digital editor of Global Cannabis Times, produced by SmartWork Media. Brad's journalism career spans working as an editor for PR Newswire, The Nation and The Santa Barbara News Press, and as Managing Editor of The Katy Courier, and publisher of Now This in Princeton. His career as a screenwriter took him into entertainment advertising, writing major film campaigns for studios and for HBO.

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