A new cannabis brand has just landed in Toronto, but its arrival has received a cold welcome from people in the city who aren't impressed with its name.
Hobo Cannabis — run by the Donnelly Group Vancouver-based watering hole chain responsible for Toronto pubs like Belfast Love and Death & Taxes — opened its doors Friday at Yonge and Dundas, marking the first of 10 stores slated to launch in the GTA.
The brand already has nine minimalist stores across Canada, but it's come under fire in Toronto for its use of the word Hobo: an outdated term to describe migrant workers in America, today mostly used to reference (often derogatorily) people experiencing homelessness.
A blurb on the brand's site explains their decision-making for its name.
"We didn't build this brand for everyone," it says on its hiring page. "That's not how businesses work anymore. Hobo was designed with our tribe in mind, one with aligned values and cultural appetites.
Our name was chosen with a sense of wanderlust in mind, one shared by wayfarers who rode newly developed railroads in the late nineteenth century. Also, it's edgy and a conversation-starter."
so many cannabis storefronts popping up, but the worst has to be these edgelords called Hobo @rollwithhobo, who tastelessly opened up down the street from @SisteringTO. But what do you expect when your senior leadership looks like this & you say shit like this: pic.twitter.com/dlBZ62CMij
— katie jensen (@katiejensen) June 5, 2020
But people aren't buying Donnelly's connection between the small group of modern, self-identifying hobos (whose transient traditions have also been co-opted by the fashion industry) and a minimalist cannabis brand from a well-known hospitality group.
A weed shop called HOBO is opening 2 doors down from @SisteringTO. I don't give af what it l means, if this business didn't know it was moving into a block where dozens of womxn forced to live on the streets come for essential support, then they don't belong here. #davenportTO pic.twitter.com/J7pN8d4nNm
— Nahum Mann (@hownowinternet) June 3, 2020
People have also been quick to point out that a couple of Hobo's upcoming Toronto stores will be located across from homeless shelters, like the Leslieville location which is a two minute walk from Salvation Army New Hope, or Bloorcourt's store directly across from the women's shelter Sistering.
@rollwithhobo change your brand name or find somewhere else to go. Opening up two doors down from a women’s shelter and calling yourselves HOBO? Not exactly marketing genius. #topoli
— kydaeo (@kydaeo) June 4, 2020
Donnelly Group president Jeff Donnelly said that they "would never name a brand that we thought may marginalize people."
"The origin of Hobo is defined as a migrant worker, choosing a lifestyle of travel. We often define ourselves this way, a small group often traveling coast to coast for work."
When asked about the brand's choice to set up shop in such close proximity to shelters, Donnelly said, "We have a very positive dialogue with the Sistering shelter on Bloor and look forward to taking action on the relationship moving ahead."
Canada's weed industry is no stranger to problematic names. Available at Hobo's new YDS store, along with most other licensed Ontario shops, are products like the Durga Mata 2 indica strain, distributed by a Vancouver-based brand called "Namaste" — enough said.
by Tanya Mok via blogTO
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