Restaurants, construction lead St. Albert 2024 business growth

Food, retail and construction services topped the list of businesses that opened in St. Albert in the first six months of 2024

It’s a bit of a shakeup from 2023 when personal care businesses saw a large spike — although beauty businesses still ranked high on the list of new businesses opened in the first half of the year.

At the top of the new businesses list were some 25 general food and retail businesses that opened between January and June 30. St. Albert also added 24 new construction services businesses, 21 health and wellness businesses, 15 professional services businesses and 15 hair and esthetics businesses during the same period, according to data from the city’s economic development department.

In total, 177 new businesses opened in the first six months of the year. That’s a modest rise from 2023, when 137 new businesses opened between January and June but a slight drop in comparison to last six months of 2023, when the city added 180 new businesses.

Some 71 home-based businesses launched in the first six months of 2024, similar to last year, which saw 77 home-based businesses open in the same time frame.

“As the number of licensed new home-based businesses are slightly higher to-date in 2024, we would anticipate the year-end figure to reflect that moderate year-over-year increase as well,” said Mike Erickson, director of economic development, in an email.

Restaurants, construction services top list of new businesses

This year, the right opportunities aligned for Sorrentino’s Restaurant Group to test a new concept, said Emily Laycock, marketing manager at Sorrentino’s.

ARGOS Bar and Bistro opened July 11 at 150 Bellerose Dr., right across the parking lot from Buco’s Pizzeria, another Sorrentino’s restaurant.  

The restaurant stays open until midnight on Fridays and Saturdays. It serves authentic Greek, Spanish and Italian dishes, along with original dishes like the paesotto, a fusion of paella and risotto, and colourful cocktails like “nymph,” which blends elderflower, absinthe, pineapple juice, lime, lemon and pineapple leaf.

“[Our chefs] did an incredible job building this menu that takes you on a journey throughout the northern Mediterranean, and a lot of our dishes are meant for sharing as well, which really kind of speaks to the goal of us bringing people together,” Laycock said.

Sorrentino’s success with Buco inspired the business to try the new ARGOS concept in St. Albert.  “There are so many people that live in the area that we know and love,” Laycock said.

She doesn’t think the restaurants will compete.

“They’re so different that people will want to do both,” Laycock said. “They can go to Buco for lunch or dinner, and then come here for late night. We really hope to be able to share everyone and all the regulars that already frequent Buco.”

Curtis Mayer started his carpentry business, Mayer and Sons Construction, earlier this year after working in restoration for more than a decade.

When his family couldn’t find an after-school care in the city, he left the restoration world to watch his elementary-school-aged kids.

“We were put on a few wait lists, and so while that was panning out, I stepped aside from where I was working,” Mayer said.

He needed something that would fit with his schedule, so he began working independently, mostly on projects for friends and family.

Now he hopes to grow the business he had been thinking of starting for some time but wasn’t prepared to launch until life circumstances forced his hand.    

He thinks many people starting small businesses from their homes are turning to entrepreneurship just to balance work and life obligations.

“It’s a little overwhelming, for sure,” he said. “You hear people say [starting your own business] is the scariest thing — but you’ve kind of just got to do it.”