Construction of an upscale, 30,000-square-foot supermarket in Erin Ridge is expected to start this fall.
L’OCA Quality Market just opened its flagship Sherwood Park location in May and is already gearing up to launch new stores in St. Albert and Edmonton.
The high-end grocer’s Sherwood Park location contains a butcher, a bakery, a liquor store and a mammoth selection of pre-made meals as well as niche ingredients and typical supermarket fare.
L’OCA purchased four acres of a currently undeveloped 15-acre parcel of land in the Erin Ridge North neighbourhood on the city’s north side, according to Elia Katz, marketing coordinator for real estate developer Landrex.
“St. Albert kind of was in need of a higher-end, more niche grocer,” Katz said. “St. Albert is a fairly affluent community, and there were just no options out there.”
He compared L’OCA to the supermarket Freson Bros., a place with unique merchandise in comparison to other chains such as Save on Foods and Superstore.
The supermarket could open as soon as early 2026, Katz said.
Neither Landrex nor L’OCA has advertised the upcoming location, but based on a social media post about the supermarket’s opening, Katz said that “the overall sentiment around it is just excitement.”
“People are just happy they don't have to go into Edmonton to go to the big Italian Centre down there, or the Freson Bros., they can just have their own spot up here.”
Although St. Albert currently has stores that sell artisanal and specialty foods, such as Italian Bakery’s Mercato and Amaranth Whole Foods, Katz said the sheer scale of L’OCA will make it stand out in the market.
“It’s 30,000 square feet, so it’s going to be a pretty big retailer, right?” he said.
L’OCA was searching for land to open new locations and was connected with Landrex through real estate agency Avison Young, said Solmaz Chiarello, leasing coordinator for Landrex.
Chiarello called L’OCA “an experience.”
“I went with my kids,” she said. “We went and had lunch in the restaurant, and had coffee and ice cream, bought the groceries, got some steaks from the butcher. We were there like two hours … It will be great for St. Albert.”
L’OCA’s president is Joshua Thatcher, who, according to his LinkedIn page, worked as a store team leader with Whole Foods Market for 10 years before leaving to become president of L’OCA in 2021.
L’OCA describes itself as an “experiential, artisanal market” and as a “food adventure.”
It stocks locally-sourced food as well as goods imported from abroad.