Real estate race heats up between pot retailers, Amazon’s closing in on HQ2, and more top news

The news Canadian professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation by clicking the hashtags below.

Retailers selling recreational cannabis in Ontario are hurrying to secure prime real estate locations before April, when the stores become legal in the province. Specific details as to which cannabis companies can operate, including how many stores and where, will be finalized in the next few weeks. Ontario says it won’t set a limit to the total number of cannabis retail outlets in the province. Real estate industry experts told The Globe and Mail that competition for spots has driven up some lease prices by 50% of market value. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Amazon has narrowed down its search for a second headquarters to a handful of places including Crystal City, Va., Dallas, and New York City, says The Wall Street Journal. Yet it’s Crystal City that’s firming as the favorite, according to The Washington Post. Amazon has purportedly gone as far as examining the logistics of relocating employees to the metropolis, which is located in Northern Virginia, just a few miles from Washington D.C. — scrutinizing the specific buildings it would occupy and plotting how the announcement would be rolled out publicly. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Former GE executive John Flannery, fired as CEO after just 14 months in the job, will collect $4.25 million in severance payments in the next year. Flannery was sacked after the board became aware of deepening problems at General Electric’s power unit that led to it issuing both profit and cash-flow warnings for 2018. The company also disclosed that it will allow him to retain equity awards currently valued at several million dollars. And after 30 years at GE, when Flannery turns 60, he will be handed a pension that was recently valued at $23.6 million. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Ikea will trial one of its smaller outlets in New York, following the success of its first so-called “Planning Store” in London. The Swedish company — traditionally known for its massive, out-of-town outlets — said that the central London store had been an experiment, which could now be rolled out in other cities including Riyadh, Shanghai and Tokyo. The small store format caters to the increasing number of city-dwellers who do not have a car, the retailer says. ? Here’s what people are saying.

Disney is pouring all of its marketing might into celebrating Mickey Mouse’s 90th birthday this month, revving its cross-promotional machine up to what The New York Times says is perhaps “its highest level yet.” The company has created cupcakes the size of cars, collaborated with a dozen fashion designers and created more than 30 books to mark the occasion. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto and Goofy are Disney’s greatest money-making products — bringing home at least $3.2 billion per year in retail sales. ? Here’s what people are saying.

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