TORONTO, May 21, 2021 /CNW/ – Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. (“Fire & Flower” or the “Company”) (TSX: FAF) (OTCQX: FFLWF), today announced the appointment of Matthew Hollingshead to his new role as Chief Innovation Officer (“CINO”). Mr. Hollingshead will also continue to serve as President of the Company’s wholly-owned indirect subsidiary, Hifyre Inc. (“Hifyre”).
Mr. Hollingshead joined the Company in 2018 when Hifyre was acquired by Fire & Flower as part of the Company’s focus as a technology-enabled retailer. Effective today, in his new role as CINO, Mr. Hollingshead will continue to work closely with CEO Trevor Fencott and co-lead the Company’s strategic technological advancements. He will also create and oversee the successful execution of the Company’s new organization-wide innovation plan. As part of the executive leadership team, this role will be responsible for implementing the Company’s near and long-term strategic business opportunities.
Matthew has championed innovation at Fire & Flower and in the cannabis tech industry for years. His decade of legal medical and adult-use cannabis experience combined with his creative vision for the future of retail technology has been instrumental in positioning Fire & Flower at the forefront of this highly competitive industry.
Trevor Fencott, President and CEO of Fire & Flower
Under Matthew’s leadership, Hifyre has become a foundational element of Fire & Flower’s retail success and has been the key to establishing diversified revenue streams for our business and offering our partners unmatched insights into the customer cannabis journey.
Prior to Hifyre’s acquisition, Matthew founded companies in the digital advertising and software development industries, servicing clients such as Mattel, Novo Nordisk, Puma, Google & MTV. The Hifyre team, under Matthew’s leadership has helped clients build and successfully exit companies for approximately $500 million, including the first online medical cannabis portal for Mettrum, which sold to Canopy Growth in 2017.
“On behalf of our Board of Directors and all our stakeholders, I congratulate Matthew on this new appointment and am eager to see the new and innovative capabilities that Matthew and his team develop. We look forward to Matthew’s future contributions as part of our executive leadership team as we continue to execute on our journey to being the global leader in retail cannabis technology,” concludes Mr. Fencott.
About Fire & Flower
Fire & Flower is a leading, technology-powered, adult-use cannabis retailer with more than 80 corporate-owned stores in its network. The Company leverages its wholly-owned technology development subsidiary, Hifyre Inc., to continually advance its proprietary retail operations model while also providing additional independent high-margin revenue streams. Fire & Flower guides consumers through the complex world of cannabis through education-focused, best-in-class retailing while the Hifyre™ digital retail and analytics platform empowers retailers to optimize their connections with consumers. The Company’s leadership team combines extensive experience in the technology, cannabis and retail industries.
Through the strategic investment of Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. (owner of Circle K convenience stores), the Company has set its sights on global expansion as new cannabis markets emerge and is poised to expand into the United States when permitted through its strategic licensing agreement with American Acres Managers upon the occurrence of certain changes to the cannabis regulatory regime.
Fire & Flower is a multi-banner cannabis retail operator that owns and operates the Fire & Flower, Friendly Stranger, Happy Dayz and Hotbox brands. Fire & Flower Holdings Corp. owns all issued and outstanding shares in Fire & Flower Inc. and Friendly Stranger Holdings Corp., licensed cannabis retailers that own and operate cannabis retail stores in the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario, and the Yukon territory.
To learn more about Fire & Flower, visit www.fireandflower.com.
