PlantX Life Inc has announced the expansion of its multi-brand pop-up retail initiative at its brick-and-mortar location in Venice Beach, California.
The Vancouver, British Columbia-based company said the launch of the pop-up initiative was inspired by the success of pilot pop-up initiatives, which promoted the company's partner brands Matthew Kenney Cuisine Global LLC (MKC) and BESTIES Vegan Paradise.
The pop-up initiative aims to support both new and established plant-based brands by offering PlantX's brick-and-mortar retail space in Venice Beach as a pop-up installation space designed to promote selected brands' popularity and growth and empower the plant-based community, noted the company.
The pop-up initiative demonstrates the company's leadership in the plant-based space by expanding and diversifying its partnerships with impactful plant-based brands, it added.
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Each selected brand will be able to operate a signature pop-up installation in PlantX's brick-and-mortar location in Venice Beach. The initiative is also an opportunity for selected brands to test their products in a retail environment and enhance their brand awareness by hosting interactive community-building events, such as pizza nights or sports clubs.
PlantX said it will “use a three-month rotational system” to maximize the number and variety of plant-based brands that can benefit from the initiative.
In a statement, PlantX CEO Lorne Rapkin said: “By paving the way for pop-up opportunities, we hope to revolutionize the plant-based industry and contribute to its growth in novel and creative ways."
PlantX’s first pop-up activity promoted MKC's New Deli brand, which involved updating the XMarket cafe menu with Chef Matthew Kenney's plant-based sandwich recipes. The second pop-up installation boosted retail success for BESTIES, which occupied the store for three months starting in February this year. BESTIES increased foot traffic by introducing unique plant-based products and hosting events in the Venice Beach area, noted the company.
The next step in PlantX's pop-up initiative will involve redesigning its Venice Beach location to reflect the Little West LLC brand, one of the company's wholly-owned subsidiaries. The rebrand will involve painting the Venice Beach storefront using Little West’s signature branding and color scheme, as well as ensuring that Little West products receive “premium placement” in the store and adding Little West smoothies to the cafe's menu.
"Community empowerment is the very fabric of PlantX's vision of adding real value to the plant-based space," added PlantX founder Sean Dollinger. "Our new pop-up concept aims not only to build community among our consumers, but also to further develop collaborations with, and among fellow plant-based companies."
Operational update
In operational updates, PlantX said it plans to close its XMarket brick-and-mortar store in San Diego, California.
In addition, PlantX said it has struck a secured, convertible loan agreement following which it will borrow $2 million from a lender to expand its distribution channels and develop its same-day delivery service model.
The loan will bear interest at 12% per annum, with interest payable semi-annually, and will mature on April 26, 2024, said the company. PlantX will hold a forced conversion privilege whereby, if the trading price of the company's shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange exceeds $0.65, then PlantX will be entitled to convert the unpaid, outstanding principal on the loan into common shares at a conversion price of $0.65 per share, provided that the number of shares issuable following the conversion privilege will not be greater than 3.08 million shares.
The company said the loan will be secured by a general security interest over the company’s assets and the assets of two of its subsidiaries -- Little West and Bloomboxclub Limited.
PlantX said it paid a finder's fee of $175,000 to an arm's length finder and issued 20 million common share purchase warrants to the lender, with each warrant exercisable at a price of $0.10 per share for a period of 2 years from the date of issuance. The warrants are subject to a four-month statutory hold period, added the firm.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at uttara@proactiveinvestors.com
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