Potherb opened its doors in September 2023. What a lot of people don’t realize is just how new that made us, not just as a shop, but to the city itself. Mississauga had only just started allowing cannabis stores to exist here at all. As we mark our 3rd anniversary, it felt worth looking back at how much has changed since, for us and for the city around us.
A City That Took Its Time
When cannabis became legal across Canada in 2018, plenty of cities jumped in right away. Mississauga didn’t. City council decided to hold off, wanting more say over where stores could open before letting them in. That caution stuck around for a while, long enough that Mississauga became known as one of the last major cities in the GTA without a single legal cannabis shop.
It wasn’t until the spring of 2023 that council finally reversed course and opened the door to retail cannabis here. By then, plenty of other Ontario cities had years of legal cannabis retail under their belt already, Mississauga was just getting started.
Right Place, Right Time
We opened Potherb a few months after that decision, which means we weren’t stepping into an established local market, we were part of the very first wave of shops this city had ever allowed. It’s part of why this anniversary feels like it’s about more than just us. We got to grow up alongside Mississauga’s cannabis scene from close to day one.
From Zero to Dozens
The change since has been fast. What started as a city with no legal cannabis stores at all now has dozens, spread across neighbourhoods all over Mississauga. It mirrors what’s happened province-wide too, more shops, more variety on the shelves, and more people choosing legal cannabis over anything else.
We’ve spent these three years growing right alongside that shift, and honestly, it’s been fun watching this city’s cannabis scene go from nonexistent to genuinely exciting.
Here’s to the Next Three
Three years ago, we opened in a city that had only just decided shops like ours were allowed to exist. Today, cannabis retail in Mississauga feels like a normal part of the neighbourhood, and we’re proud to have been part of that shift from close to the beginning. Thank you for growing with us.
