Canopy Growth (CGC) on Friday said it would open 10 physical retail locations next week in Alberta, the first of its stores to appear in a province that already has far more pot shops than any other. Canopy Growth stock and other marijuana stocks rose.

The company, which is the biggest marijuana stock by market cap, said it would open both its Tweed and Tokyo Smoke shops in the province, with most appearing in Calgary. Canopy said it was hiring 100 people in Alberta connection with the openings.

The openings will give Canopy 50 retail locations across Canada, and the company said more openings were planned this year. Alberta has around 500 cannabis shops vs. more than 1,000 in Canada overall.

Canopy in March briefly closed Tweed and Tokyo Smoke stores in March in response to the coronavirus pandemic and began to re-open in April.

As of this month, Canopy said in a filing that all 22 of its corporate-owned shops were open and offering in-store purchases and pickup for online orders.

Canopy Growth Stock, Marijuana Stocks

Canopy Growth stock rose 2.4% to close at 16.90 in the stock market today. The stock has been consolidating, but well off the highs that might make buying conditions better, by IBD's guidelines.

Canopy Growth stock has a weak 29 Composite Rating. Its EPS Rating is 20. The stock's relative strength line has fallen.

Among other marijuana stocks, Cronos Group (CRON) rose 4.6%. Tilray (TLRY) added 2.3%. Aphria (APHA) gained 2.6%. Aurora Cannabis (ACB) gained 3.2%.

The store count in Canada's other provinces has lagged that of Alberta. Ontario, Canada's biggest province by population, had 115 as of last month, according to BNN Bloomberg.

As marijuana stocks fell after Canada legalized cannabis in 2018, industry executives complained that Ontario had been too slow to open new stores, hindering sales.