Oakridge Park | 13 Towers | 154m | 52fl | 5M sqft | U/C - Page 145

officedweller · #**2881** Posted **Aug 26, 2026, 9:41 PM**

From what I recall, their parking spaces were all on a lease basis only (without automatic renewal), not as limited common property attaching to a condo unit. And was it all valet only?

officedweller · #**2882** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 12:56 AM**

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

Quote:

A secondary entrance from Cambie Street, near the intersection with West 41st Avenue, provides direct access to the store through the pharmacy space.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/safeway-...park-mall-vancouver-open#google_vignette

The initial pics below highlight an interesting aspect of this "anchor".
You can visit it (mainly by car) without stepping foot in any other part of the mall.
That may be intended to keep the riff-raff away from the luxury retailers,
but it also may not perform an "anchor" function by helping drive foot traffic upstairs.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/safeway-...park-mall-vancouver-open#google_vignette

teriyaki · #**2883** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 5:13 AM**

Took a little evening stroll through the Safeway.
Its certainly bigger than any other Safeway I've visited.

Good point about the anchor-role, because its basically independently accessible from the parking lot, there is little in the way to invite people to venture upwards towards the mall...

officedweller · #**2884** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 6:28 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by teriyaki

Took a little evening stroll through the Safeway.
Its certainly bigger than any other Safeway I've visited.

So did you enter from the street through the pharamcy mezzanine?
Is it just stairs or is there an elevator?

Weland · #**2885** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 10:23 AM**

Safeway at Oakridge Park Mall:

Main store: 7am - 11pm
Pharmacy: 9am-8pm Mon-Fri, 10am-6pm SatSun, closed Holidays

Oakridge website: updated now

https://www.oakridgepark.com/en-ca/visiting/safeway

Safeway website store locator: Oakridge ??

https://www.safeway.ca/store-locator

.

idunno · #**2886** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 3:46 PM**

This is very similar to Uptown Mall in Victoria, where Walmart is fully accessible via the parkade, and anyone heading there requires very little interaction with the rest of the "lifestyle" part of the mall.

Spr0ckets · #**2887** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 7:45 PM**

If they were worried about the hoi polloi and unwashed masses of Safeway shoppers sullying their great high street retailers upstairs, then perhaps they chose the wrong anchor tenant grocery store - and maybe they should have gone with something like Whole Foods instead?

It's doubtful they (Whole Foods) would drive the same kind of foot traffic that a Safeway could, but if part of the point is driving foot traffic then why would you worry about the wrong kind of crowd ending up in the high-end stores?

But then again I can see how you wouldn't want the t-shirt and flip-flops dude out on a food run errand, ending up in Prada or at Louis Vutton, or Versace, but maybe he also wants to pick up some running shoes or rain jacket replacement at Sporting Life or Arc’teryx.

Besides which, the Whole Foods crowd also tend do their thing in T-shirts and flip-flops, too.

Changing City · #**2888** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 8:33 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spr0ckets

If they were worried about the hoi polloi and unwashed masses of Safeway shoppers sullying their great high street retailers upstairs, then perhaps they chose the wrong anchor tenant grocery store - and maybe they should have gone with something like Whole Foods instead?

It's doubtful they (Whole Foods) would drive the same kind of foot traffic that a Safeway could, but if part of the point is driving foot traffic then why would you worry about the wrong kind of crowd ending up in the high-end stores?

But then again I can see how you wouldn't want the t-shirt and flip-flops dude out on a food run errand, ending up in Prada or at Louis Vutton, or Versace, but maybe he also wants to pick up some running shoes or rain jacket replacement at Sporting Life or Arc’teryx.

Besides which, the Whole Foods crowd also tend do their thing in T-shirts and flip-flops, too.

Safeway had a lease here before - they probably had first refusal on the supermarket space as a result.

ssiguy · #**2889** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 9:04 PM**

I just don't understand the fascination of Oakridge. The condos are obscenely overpriced even by Vancouver standards but they did put some thought into the outdoor areas & amenities and it looks quite nice but in the end it's still just a mall but with nicer lighting and fancier staircases.

jollyburger · #**2890** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 10:57 PM**

Seems a bit of a stretch to say Safeway is down there because they are somehow worried about people who shop there from going into the mall. If anything it's probably more tied to the original phasing of the mall and giving Safeway a new space since they would have still been open until that phase was completed.

officedweller · #**2891** Posted **Aug 28, 2026, 11:16 PM**

It's also about the nature of the big box that is a grocery store.
The type and length of frontage into the mall isn't optional, and
direct access to parking provides convenience for customers pushing shopping carts to their cars.
Even the old Safeway at Oakridge only had a narrow corridor to the mall with the main entrance facing the parking lot.

A department store can present a look consistent with other stores at the end of a mall corridor - not so much with a grocery store or "junior" department store, as they were known (Zellers, Wal-Mart), with their rows of cashiers across the entrance.
Other car-oriented stores (hardware stores, Canadian Tire, Wal-Mart, Home Depot, etc.)
also tend to prioritize frontage to a parking lot, even in a mall situation.

I suppose with Oakridge, the only option was underground - but it's also very far underground and largely hidden.
You'll note that shopping cart movators are absent at Oakridge (even to P1 from P2), but there are elevators.
I wonder if the shopping cart wheels lock if you take them up to the mall?
(and there's really no reason to take a cart up to the mall, as there's no parking up there)
Presumably you can call an Uber or taxi to the Safeway P2 area rather than the "Ride Share Hub" at the other end of the mall.

A similar pseudo underground arrangement is seen at Amazing Brentwood, where the Sporting Life is in the planned Target space on P2, hiding the big box below grade.

Superstore at Metropolis at Metrotown and the former Safeway at City Square are the only purpose built supermarkets that come to mind with long frontage in an enclosed mall, and they have movators for the carts to the underground parking.
Back in the day, Woodward's Food Floors were also an exception. Lansdowne had a Woodward's Food Floor upfront where the HomeSense and Best Buy are, with curbside parcel pick-up and the basement level at the former Metrotown Centre (where T&T is) was a Woodward's Food Floor, below 2 levels of department store.

There are "in-fill" examples like T&T at Lansdowne or Osaka at Park Royal where they backfilled a former department store space.

jollyburger · #**2892** Posted **Aug 29, 2026, 11:43 PM**

Not sure if it was noted above but RE: the Cambie entrance

Quote:

A secondary entrance from Cambie Street, near the intersection with West 41st Avenue, provides direct access to the store through the pharmacy space.

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/safeway-grocery-store-oakridge-park-mall-vancouver-open

officedweller · #**2893** Posted **Aug 30, 2026, 1:14 AM**

Yeah, saw that. Curious what form it is.

bluefox · #**2894** Posted **Aug 30, 2026, 5:43 PM**

The hand-wringing over the supposed fit of Safeway in a mall like Oakridge is also rather amusing, regardless of the mall going luxury.

It seems to ignore that the Safeway brand has almost always been positioned as a full-service, mid-to-upper-market chain. It's not like Sobeys plopped a FreshCo in here...

Also worth noting that Rachelle Béry is probably Sobeys' best response to the "Whole Foods" experience. Overall, they seem to have tried to go a bit upscale in this store compared to the median Safeway and include a more premium product assortment to reflect the shopping demographic.

teriyaki · #**2895** Posted **Aug 30, 2026, 6:29 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by jollyburger

Not sure if it was noted above but RE: the Cambie entrance

https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/safeway-grocery-store-oakridge-park-mall-vancouver-open

I'll try to get a proper photo of this, but its not near 41st avenue at all. Its on Cambie, around 44th Ave. Completely non-descript as its literally just a pair of doors in an opening surrounded by construction hoarding at the moment.

Glow Fun City · #**2896** Posted **Aug 30, 2026, 7:31 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by teriyaki

I'll try to get a proper photo of this, but its not near 41st avenue at all. Its on Cambie, around 44th Ave. Completely non-descript as its literally just a pair of doors in an opening surrounded by construction hoarding at the moment.

It’s at 43rd Ave, 44th is the parking entrance

NewfBC · #**2897** Posted **Aug 30, 2026, 7:55 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluefox

The hand-wringing over the supposed fit of Safeway in a mall like Oakridge is also rather amusing, regardless of the mall going luxury.

It seems to ignore that the Safeway brand has almost always been positioned as a full-service, mid-to-upper-market chain. It's not like Sobeys plopped a FreshCo in here...

Also worth noting that Rachelle Béry is probably Sobeys' best response to the "Whole Foods" experience. Overall, they seem to have tried to go a bit upscale in this store compared to the median Safeway and include a more premium product assortment to reflect the shopping demographic.

Also this store is hidden away in the basement of the mall, next to the new BC Liquor Store. It's not like it's on the main level, next to Louis Vuitton, etc.

Visited the store yesterday, and despite being one of their largest and the Lower Mainland's flagship, it still felt kinda cramped. Nice store though!
(pro tip - take the elevators outside the store directly to the roof, where there are tables to sit and enjoy your lunch from the store!)

Ron.

officedweller · #**2898** Posted **Yesterday, 9:27 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewfBC

(pro tip - take the elevators outside the store directly to the roof, where there are tables to sit and enjoy your lunch from the store!)

Ron.

Genius!

SpongeG · #**2899** Posted **Today, 12:13 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluefox

The hand-wringing over the supposed fit of Safeway in a mall like Oakridge is also rather amusing, regardless of the mall going luxury.

It seems to ignore that the Safeway brand has almost always been positioned as a full-service, mid-to-upper-market chain. It's not like Sobeys plopped a FreshCo in here...

Also worth noting that Rachelle Béry is probably Sobeys' best response to the "Whole Foods" experience. Overall, they seem to have tried to go a bit upscale in this store compared to the median Safeway and include a more premium product assortment to reflect the shopping demographic.

I saw pictures and videos of the opening; they were heavily pushing Asian food, more so than most Safeways seem to offer.

I drove past on Sunday, the Cambie entrance was getting some use, there seems to be two entrances, one as seen in pics above is still closed offm the other one is a little further south down the street.