Offering bikes, brews and brewed coffee, it’s bound to be a hub for hip and trendy Edmontonians and on Tuesday, the Ritchie Market opened its doors to much fanfare.
“We’ve had so many people dropping by just to wish us well and congratulate us and business obviously has been unreal,” said Corey Meyer, owner and butcher at ACME Meat Market. “It’s been great – more than we could have hoped.”
For 30 years, the Ritchie community butchery was located at 95 Street and 76 Avenue but on Monday, it opened its doors just across the street with hopes the new location will breathe new life into the business and neighbourhood.
“Everyone in the neighbourhood who’s come in the shop has been super excited so obviously the neighbourhood is embracing it wholeheartedly and it’s going to be great for the neighbourhood for years and years to come,” Meyer said.
The idea behind the Ritchie Market was conceived by Greg Zeschuk, co-founder of BioWare and Poul Mark, founder of Transcend Coffee. The two said they wanted to re-emphasize the concept of “local” in the neighbourhood, and create a space for people in the community to meet and engage with one another.
In addition to ACME Meat Market, the Ritchie Market at 96 Street and 76 Avenue will be home to Transcend Coffee, Velocity Cycle, the Blind Enthusiasm brewery and a restaurant called Biera.
“We’re all under one roof, and today’s the opening day for two of the four businesses,” Meyer said. “I think it’s going to be good because we’ll all feed off each other, kind of thing.”
“You know, people that might be just coming in to buy a steak or something for dinner… they’ll grab some coffee and say, ‘Hey Transcend’s there too.’ Or maybe someone’s come to get accessories for their bike and then they’ll be like, ‘Oh, there’s a meat market there.’ So I think it’s good for everyone involved that they’ll be able to feed off of each other.”
A groundbreaking for the 15,000 square-foot, two-storey building was held in October 2015.
READ MORE: Coffee shop, meat market among tenants of new Ritchie Market
“We want to serve as an example of a walkable and bike-friendly development done right within a mature neighbourhood in the city of Edmonton, hopefully leading to more revitalization of commercial zones in other established neighbourhoods,” the Ritchie Market says on its website.
View a photo gallery of the Ritchie Market below:
Meyer said he couldn’t be more excited to have finally have his business open its doors in the new space.
“Thirty years in the old location so it’s kind of nice to have some new digs.”
– with files from Caley Ramsay
Watch below: An official groundbreaking ceremony took place for the Ritchie Market took place on Oct. 22, 2015.
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