'A Safeway unlike any other': Inside Oakridge Park's newly began trading 50,000+ sq. ft. flagship grocery store

The grocery store has now returned as the largest retailer at the new mall. The new Safeway spans more than 50,000 sq. ft. across two underground levels, including a partial upper mezzanine level with a pharmacy and health and wellness products. The store’s main entrance can be accessed at the mall’s south atrium — next to Aritzia — and from the underground parking levels.

A secondary entrance from Cambie Street, near the intersection with West 41st Avenue, provides direct access to the store through the pharmacy space. Safeway’s new chapter at the property is notable not only for the store’s size, but in addition for the breadth and positioning of its offerings, which together make it the business’s flagship location in Metro Vancouver. Based on Daily Hive Urbanized’s observations, the new Safeway carries the familiar brands, goods, and products found at the chain’s other stores, while building on and complementing that selection with a noticeable Asian influence and added curated range of upscale offerings, including premium meats such as dry aged beef.

As with many other Safeway locations, the store in addition includes an in-store Starbucks cafe. Mundel emphasized that Safeway intends to continue adjusting the new store based on what diners want after it opens.

He added that the business wants the Oakridge Park store location to stand apart from a conventional supermarket. “We know no one needs another grocery store, but our team is dedicated to making this a grocery experience,” explained Mundel. To design and build this store, Safeway worked with New Westminster-based Align Construction, which specializes in commercial construction and tenant improvements, including other notable grocery store projects in Metro Vancouver.

The new mall, which is predominantly focused on luxury retail, first threw open its doors to the public in late May 2026, when the Time Out Market food hall and the vast majority of its first phase retailers in addition debuted. Since then, additional retailers and food and beverage businesses have continued to open, with Safeway now joining the mix as one of the mall’s key anchor businesses.

Sometime in 2027, another leading retailer will open within an underground space — a 25,000 sq. ft. It will be located immediately adjacent to Safeway within the P2 parkade level, replacing the liquor store’s existing location on Cambie Street just north of the mall site.

As well, in September 2026, at the start of the new school year, Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) will open its 70,000 sq. ft. campus at Oakridge Park mall. Additional retailers, including businesses that will fill in the space earlier on set aside for the return of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and the residential units under the first phase of the expansive mixed-use redevelopment are also set to be fully ready in 2027.

This first phase in addition includes 700,000 sq. ft. of office space within the base levels of the residential towers. Moreover, the City of Vancouver’s new 100,000 sq. ft.

Oakridge civic centre — attached to a new City-owned social housing tower at the northwest corner of the overall Oakridge Park property — with new community, recreational, and cultural spaces, including a new Vancouver Public Library branch, will open sometime next year. A marked portion of Oakridge Park’s 7.5-acre public park on the rooftop of the indoor mall has already threw open its doors.

The new and expanded entrance into SkyTrain’s Oakridge-41st Avenue Station — including the additional underground station entrance — will reach full completion in early 2027.