Cannabist
Statewide renovation and brand refresh during peak of the COVID19 pandemic – overcoming unprecedented labor shortages and supply chain disruption.
The Challenge
At the peak of the COVID19 pandemic, Cannabist needed to concurrently renovate all of its Florida locations while overcoming unprecedented labor shortages and supply chain disruption. In addition, all work had to be completed by an extremely aggressive year-end rebranding target to meet peak holiday demand.
This project is connected with Cannabist’s rapid geographic expansion into the state of Florida, making market-leading therapeutic care and education available to patients in the state. It is also creating over 250 new jobs in retail dispensaries and more than 100 jobs in operational and production roles including high quality positions in agriculture, manufacturing, medical technology & testing, regulatory oversight, compliance and retail business operations.
Cannabist Statewide Brand Refresh
The Solution
Hurd provided statewide resources to support project development, pre-construction and construction management including self-performed general contracting in five markets to meet local market capacity challenges. Hurd also provided extended project management to orchestrate custom millwork, signage, artwork, self-serve kiosks and displays.
Finding Success Despite Unprecedented Pandemic Related Challenges
Under normal circumstances, concurrently renovating 14 active and open locations on a tight timeline would be a challenge for any brand. Layering on the unprecedented challenges presented by the COVID19 pandemic had the potential to completely derail the project.
Hurd’s established depth and expertise across Florida kept the project on track with:
- Local “boots on the ground" in all project locations
- Strong sub-contractor relationships and goodwill to overcome pandemic related challenges
- Creative sourcing and re-deployment strategies to overcome supply shortages
- Resource sharing across sites to overcome unexpected labor difficulties
- Self-performed general contracting in 5 markets to overcome capacity concerns
- Tightly controlled after-hours construction and strict “next morning re-opening process”
The Results
Hurd successfully navigated the challenge to concurrently renovate all locations while maintaining open retail operations throughout Florida. All locations cleared corporate design inspections within two days of substantial completion and 100% of the planned Grand Re-Openings occurred on time.
The results included:
- 56,000 square feet renovated across 14 Florida locations
- 9 fully renovated sites leveraging Hurd’s statewide General Contractor partners
- 5 fully renovated sites by Hurd as CMc/Construction Manager as Constructor
- 153 days from earliest planning through completion
- 14 successful simultaneous Grand Re-Openings across Florida
Luckily, when faced with the challenge of rebranding, we already had an established, trusted partner in place who could handle the concurrent renovations of all 14 of our Florida retail dispensaries. Adding how 2021 was a unique year with pandemic related challenges, Hurd’s depth throughout Florida helped alleviate many of those pressures. They were consistently strong throughout the entire process and very active in solving issues each step of the way.
Greg M. – Director, National Construction