This article appeared in our Info Edmonton Magazine – March/April 2022.
An Edmonton institution pushes farther East…
The Italian Centre’s fifth—and now largest—location officially opened in Sherwood Park in July 2021. Founded in 1959 by Frank Spinelli in a small shop in Edmonton’s Little Italy, the Italian Centre has since grown into Alberta’s largest family-owned specialty food retailer and grocer under the leadership of Frank’s daughter, Teresa.
“I know my late father Frank would be so proud of everyone who played a part in creating this new place for the community to gather. We continue to be so grateful and blessed,” shared Teresa Spinelli.
The 22,500 square-foot space features a licensed 50-seat café and 30-seat patio, perfect for families and friends alike to eat, drink, and gather together. Come enjoy Italian comfort foods at the hot table, or Tavola Calda as the Italians say, as well as the extensive pizza bar, pastry shop and bakery, along with the actual grocery store.
Exclusive offerings at this location include the 70-foot deli counter, which stocks the largest assortment of deli items in Western Canada, and an in-house gelateria, the first of its kind for the Italian Centre. Visitors will also be able to see the Cathedral of Cheese, an impressive eighty-wheel display of cheese two storeys high. To this and more we say, Saluti!
