T&T Supermarket plans to open its first location in Southern California next year as the Canada-based Asian food retailer continues its expansion in the United States.
The 34,000-square-foot store in Irvine, California, will be located in The Canopy at Great Park, part of the master-planned Great Parks Neighborhoods community, T&T said in a Thursday announcement. The store, due to open in the winter of 2026, will mark T&T’s third location in California and fifth in the U.S.
The new store will offer a self-service hot bar with options including a barbecue station, sushi counter and Peking duck as well as made-to-order street food such as Chinese crepes and Taiwanese-style rice rolls, the company said. It will also feature more than 200 private label items, including Korean kalbi marinade, green onion pancakes and seaweed snacks.
The Irvine store will create 180 jobs, T&T added.
T&T Supermarket is expanding its presence in the U.S.
T&T opened its first store in the U.S. in December 2024 in the Seattle suburb of Bellevue, Washington. The company announced last June that it intends to open its second location in the country in Lynwood, Washington, and also has locations in San Jose, California, and San Francisco in the works.
The company, which also runs more than 30 locations in Canada and has been owned by Loblaw Companies since 2009, positions itself as a culinary destination, noting that shoppers often drive across the border from Washington state to shop at its stores in British Columbia. T&T has received requests for stores from customers “all across the United States,” T&T CEO Tina Lee, said in a statement about the Irvine location.
More than 40% of the population of Irvine, located south of Los Angeles in Orange County, identified as Asian in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
“We’re especially excited to welcome T&T Supermarket as a flagship retailer and exceptional grocery destination for the community, bringing an internationally recognized brand to Irvine and reinforcing our commitment to best-in-class offerings,” Dan Almquist, CEO of Almquist, which is building the retail development where the new store will be located, said in a statement.
