Chris Jones
In Canada’s oversaturated retail market, Chris Jones is doing something that’s practically unheard of: He’s running a profitable cannabis company.
Jones is the founder and president of CANNABIS XPRESS, which currently has 14 stores in Ontario and 4 in New Brunswick and plans to open 3 more retail locations before the end of the year, bringing the total to 21 stores.
“We’re the largest private cannabis retailer in New Brunswick right now, and that’s where we’re focused,” says Jones. “These are our most profitable stores.”
While many cannabis retailers chased big-city footprints, Jones took a contrarian path—targeting underserved small and mid-sized towns with limited competition and strong local demand. From Uxbridge, ON (pop. 22,000) to Dalhousie, NB (pop. 3,000), CANNABIS XPRESS has built deep roots in communities often overlooked by larger players.
His strategy allows him to run a lean company, while still generating over $10 million in annual last year and being on pace for an even stronger 2025. CANNABIS XPRESS has won multiple awards since its 2020 launch, including, recently, being recognized on Statista’s ranking of The Americas’ Fastest Growing Companies (No. 7); because he doesn’t have a massive management team, he’s able to be flexible and move quickly as needed.
Jones runs the business lean and agile, skipping bloated management layers in favour of a small, committed team. That agility has been key to navigating an industry in constant flux.
“I’ve been fortunate to hire the right people,” he says. “And in this business, we watch every single dollar. That discipline is everything.”