The Cannabis Retail Advantage Few Are Talking About: Inside A Different Approach

In an increasingly crowded cannabis retail market such as the Ontario, Canada cannabis market, TOKA Dispensary, co-owned by brothers Jeremy and Jonathan Gibson, is utilizing a human-scale approach, based on product curation, knowledgeable staff and direct customer feedback.

Curated Selection Over Choice Overload

Even though roughly 10,000 SKUs are available through the Ontario Cannabis Store (OCS), TOKA has opted against overwhelming shoppers with choice overload.

“It would be impossible to carry them all,” Jeremy Gibson, co-owner of TOKA Dispensary, told IgniteIt in an interview, describing the store as brand agnostic. “If a company makes one SKU we love, we bring it into the store.”

TOKA focuses on customer insight and in-store performance instead of brand hype.

“We get a lot of our great picks from customer recommendations,” Gibson noted. “For the promotion, we bring in pretty much everything they offer and put it on sale for the month. After the promotion, we bring back the products that sold the best.”

Budtenders As Competitive Edge

TOKA puts emphasis on staffing as well, an area that it sees as its core competitive advantage. The store operates with a small team.

“Our great budtenders are our secret sauce,” Gibson said. “They know our customers really well and have real conversations with them.”

Training, according to TOKA, is less about scripts and more about sincerity. “Customer service is the same no matter what industry you are in. People know when someone is BS’ing them or trying to sell them something,” he explained.

Instead, staff are encouraged to focus on conversation, particularly with first-time or inexperienced consumers. “We take the approach of having a conversation with our customers,” Gibson continued.

Navigating Regulation And Market Pressure

Operating legally in Ontario, however, comes with challenges. Paperwork remains a major frustration.

“I don’t know a single business owner that loves paperwork,” Gibson said, adding the product rules limit differentiation. “It would be nice to have clear packaging so you can actually see the bud. Edibles really need a larger dosage than the 10 mg.”

Competition from the illicit market puts additional pressure. “It is hard to compete with unlicensed stores that do not pay any tax and can sell in unlimited quantity size,” Gibson noted.

On the question of balancing compliance with customer experience, TOKA’s view is pragmatic. “This isn’t really an issue,” Gibson said, suggesting that regulatory limits have not significantly interfered with how they engage with the customers.

Looking ahead, expansion remains a careful consideration. “I am considering new locations. Ontario is probably saturated right now,” the co-owner said, pointing to marketing restrictions as a major barrier. “I have learned it is a lot easier if you have a great retail location. Those locations rarely become available.”

Five years out, TOKA sees continuity more than rapid scale. “I see us still in Brampton with hopefully the largest selection in town,” Gibson said. “I have doubled our offerings last year and hopefully can double our offerings in 2026 as well. A few more stores in other locations would be nice as well.”

In a market often dominated by scale and regulation-driven sameness, TOKA’s strategy is intentionally grounded, prioritizing trust, conversation and careful curation as the foundation for long-term growth.