Inner Spirit Holdings Opens Additional Spiritleaf Stores in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador

Inner Spirit Holdings Ltd. (CSE:ISH), is a Canadian company that has established a national network of Spiritleaf retail cannabis stores. The company announces the continued expansion of its network with Spiritleaf franchised store openings in Ontario and in Newfoundland and Labrador. The Company celebrated the opening of its 59th and 60th Spiritleaf locations over the weekend with stores in the Parkdale community on the west side of Toronto and in the Goulds neighbourhood just southeast of St. John’s.

Inner Spirit Holdings Ltd. is a franchisor and operator of Spiritleaf recreational cannabis stores across Canada. The Spiritleaf network includes franchised and corporate locations, all operated with an entrepreneurial spirit and with the goal of creating deep and lasting ties within local communities. Spiritleaf aims to be the most knowledgeable and trusted source of recreational cannabis by offering a premium consumer experience and quality curated cannabis products. The Company is led by passionate advocates for cannabis who have years of retail, franchise and consumer marketing experience. Spiritleaf holds a Franchisees’ Choice Designation from the Canadian Franchise Association for its award-winning national support centre. The Company’s key industry partners and investors include Auxly Cannabis Group Inc. (TSX.V:XLY), HEXO Corp (TSX:HEXO), Tilray, Inc. (NASDAQ:TLRY) and Prairie Merchant Corporation.

“We are very pleased to continue the expansion of the Spiritleaf brand and to reach the 60-store milestone as Canada’s leading recreational cannabis retail store network. Two years into legalization, the Spiritleaf retail experience across the country is vibrant with Spiritleaf serving a record number of guests in September and now boasting over 125,000 members in its Collective customer benefits program. We will continue to do our part to educate and bring the benefits of legal recreational cannabis to more communities and customers through our stores,” said Darren Bondar, President and CEO of Inner Spirit.

The interest in Spiritleaf franchises continues to remain strong across the country. Additional store locations in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Newfoundland and Labrador have all been secured and would bring the Company to over 100 Spiritleaf locations which are expected to open through 2021. This targeted growth includes the anticipated doubling of Spiritleaf corporate stores from 11 to 22 through the planned opening of corporate stores in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario by the end of 2021.

In Alberta, the Company has enjoyed great success and is the top retailer in terms of licensed stores in the province. A licence cap in place for Alberta which limits any single business entity from exceeding 15% of the overall market is being removed as of November 1, 2020. It’s expected this will open up further growth opportunities for Spiritleaf locations. In Manitoba, the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba has issued the Company a conditional license for a location on McPhillips Street in Winnipeg with additional franchise and corporate stores under development in the province.

The Company also announces that it has changed its auditors from MNP LLP to BDO Canada LLP effective October 2, 2020. At the request of the Company, the Former Auditor resigned as the auditor of the Company and the Board of Directors appointed the Successor Auditor as the Company’s auditor. There were no modified opinions in the Former Auditor’s reports on the Company’s financial statements for the two most recently completed financial years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018. There are no “reportable events” (as the term is defined in National Instrument 51-102 – Continuous Disclosure Obligations (“NI 51-102”)) between the Company and the Former Auditor. In accordance with NI 51-102, the notice of change of auditor, together with the required letters from the Former Auditor and the Successor Auditor, are filed on SEDAR. The Company and the Board of Directors extend their appreciation to MNP LLP for their auditing services to date.

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Spiritleaf stores are operating with enhanced customer service processes to ensure the safety of employees and customers. Spiritleaf’s Select & Collect service enables customers to pre-shop and order online prior to pick-up in store. Customers can also connect with their local Spiritleaf store through the Collective program to further streamline and individualize their shopping experience.