Burnaby is the shopping hub of Metro Vancouver’s eastern half, anchored by Metrotown, which is consistently among BC’s highest-grossing retail centres, and supplemented by Brentwood and Lougheed town centres, each serving distinct populations with distinct characters. The city has invested in its retail infrastructure in a way that has made it less dependent on Vancouver for major purchases than most Metro Vancouver cities, and the result is a shopping destination that many Lower Mainland residents use in preference to downtown Vancouver for practical retail needs.
The contrast between Burnaby’s mall retail and the independent commercial strips in Burnaby Heights illustrates the city’s shopping range. Metrotown is one of the most efficient places in BC to accomplish a major retail shopping list in a single afternoon. Burnaby Heights is one of the more interesting places to browse without a list, discovering independent retailers, specialty food importers, and the kind of long-established shops that no longer exist in most Metro Vancouver commercial strips. Both are worth understanding.
Metrotown: One of BC’s Largest Malls
Metrotown is the dominant retail centre in eastern Metro Vancouver and one of the largest malls in BC by retail square footage and annual sales. The mall occupies a massive footprint adjacent to the Metrotown SkyTrain station and contains department stores, major national and international chain retailers, a large food court, a cinema complex, and hundreds of smaller tenants covering virtually every retail category. For anyone who needs to accomplish a broad retail shopping task, Metrotown is the most efficient option in the region.
The international character of the Metrotown customer base is reflected in the retailer mix. Asian beauty brands, specialty food importers, Korean cosmetics retailers, and import clothing labels that do not have Vancouver locations are present alongside the mainstream Canadian and international chains. The food court alone is a useful indicator of this character: the number and variety of Asian food stalls in the Metrotown food court exceeds most comparable food courts in Western Canada.
Metrotown’s location directly on the SkyTrain Expo Line is its most valuable attribute for shoppers without cars. The station opens directly into the mall, the transit connections to both Vancouver and Surrey are direct, and the combination means that the effective catchment area for Metrotown’s retail extends from Coquitlam to Langley along the SkyTrain corridor. This transit access also makes Metrotown less parking-dependent than most comparable malls.
Brentwood Town Centre: Redevelopment and New Retail
Brentwood Town Centre is in the middle of one of the most substantial retail and residential redevelopments in Metro Vancouver history. The original mid-scale Brentwood Mall has been replaced by a new open-air and indoor retail complex surrounded by dozens of new residential towers, and the retail mix reflects the demographics of the thousands of new residents moving into those towers. The result is a shopping district that feels different from Metrotown: more pedestrian-scaled, more oriented toward lifestyle retail and food, and more openly targeting the younger demographic that has moved into the new buildings.
The new Brentwood has attracted retailers and restaurant concepts that are new to Burnaby, including several that had previously been available only in Vancouver. The fitness studio, specialty grocery, and lifestyle retail categories are particularly well-represented, reflecting the disposable income profile of the new condo-dwelling customer base. The outdoor areas of the redevelopment have been designed with the pedestrian experience in mind, with landscaping, seating, and event programming that is intended to create a destination rather than just a mall.
The transformation of Brentwood is not without the tensions that accompany rapid development. The pace of change has displaced long-established businesses and community spaces that were part of the original Brentwood. The new retail environment is polished and contemporary in ways that work well commercially but lose some of the character that made the area a neighbourhood rather than just a development. Whether the new version of Brentwood will develop a genuine community identity over time is the question the neighbourhood is currently in the middle of answering.
Lougheed Town Centre
Lougheed Town Centre in north Burnaby serves the residential communities of the Lougheed corridor and the communities across the border in Coquitlam and Port Moody. The mall is older and less dramatically redeveloped than Brentwood, retaining more of the traditional enclosed mall character while hosting a retail mix that reflects the strong Chinese community presence in the surrounding area. Asian grocery stores, Chinese pharmacy chains, Chinese bakeries, and the restaurants discussed in the dining section all cluster around Lougheed in a way that makes the mall and its surrounding commercial area a community hub in the most complete sense.
The Asian grocery options near Lougheed are among the best in Metro Vancouver for their range of Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Southeast Asian food products. Several supermarkets in the area stock ingredients that are difficult to find elsewhere in the region, and the bakeries and specialty food shops that orbit the main grocery stores make the Lougheed area a genuine food shopping destination for anyone cooking Asian cuisines seriously.
The SkyTrain connection at Lougheed Station, where the Expo and Millennium Lines meet, gives the centre strong transit access from multiple directions. This interchange makes Lougheed a natural stopping point for residents of Burnaby, Coquitlam, and the communities along the Millennium Line, and the retail around the station reflects this broader catchment.
Burnaby Heights Independent Shops
Burnaby Heights stands apart from the mall-based retail model that dominates the rest of the city. The commercial strip along Hastings Street east from Boundary Road is the most concentrated independent retail environment in Burnaby, with a mix of specialty food shops, small clothing boutiques, art supply stores, hardware shops, and the Greek and Korean food businesses that define the neighbourhood’s character. These are shops that exist because the community uses them, and the commercial mix reflects who actually lives in the surrounding neighbourhood.
The Greek presence in Burnaby Heights extends into the retail sector in the form of specialty food importers and delis that stock ingredients and products not available at mainstream grocery stores. Greek olive oil, specialty cheeses, preserved meats, and baked goods are available at shops that have been supplying the Greek-Canadian community for decades. These are working importers and producers, not lifestyle shops performing ethnic authenticity, and they stock the products that people actually use in their kitchens.
The independent clothing boutiques and lifestyle shops in Burnaby Heights reflect the neighbourhood’s evolution over the past decade as younger residents have moved in alongside the established Greek and Korean communities. These newer shops bring a sensibility that is sustainable and local-focused, selling BC-made clothing, independent jewellery, and housewares that are not available at the mall. The mix of old-community food retail and newer independent lifestyle retail gives the Heights a shopping character that is genuinely interesting.
What Distinguishes Burnaby’s Shopping from Vancouver
The practical case for Burnaby over Vancouver for shopping is simple: parking is easier, prices are often lower due to lower commercial rents at the independent level, and the mall retail at Metrotown and Brentwood is more accessible by transit than most Vancouver shopping outside downtown. For major retail purchases that require a full afternoon of browsing, Metrotown delivers more in a single location than any Vancouver destination outside the downtown core.
The specific case for Burnaby over Vancouver is its Asian retail and food shopping. The combination of Lougheed for Chinese grocery and specialty food, Metrotown for Korean beauty and Asian general merchandise, and the specialty importers at Burnaby Heights means that Burnaby has a more complete offer for customers shopping across Asian food and retail categories than any single Vancouver district. This is not a niche point: it reflects the reality of who lives in and uses Burnaby.
The independent retail at Burnaby Heights is the part of Burnaby’s shopping scene that most resembles the neighbourhood retail culture that has been squeezed out of Vancouver by rising rents. The shops there are not surviving as heritage holdovers but as genuinely viable businesses serving the community that uses them. This is increasingly rare in Metro Vancouver and worth supporting.
Tips for Shopping in Burnaby
Metrotown parking is free but fills quickly on weekends from November through January. Using the SkyTrain during peak shopping seasons is faster and avoids the frustration of circling the parkade.
The Asian grocery stores around Lougheed Town Centre are best visited on weekday mornings to avoid the weekend crowds. Saturday afternoons in the grocery stores near Lougheed are extremely busy.
Burnaby Heights is a slow, walking shopping experience. Budget two to three hours for a proper browse rather than arriving with a specific list and expecting to be in and out quickly.
The Brentwood redevelopment is still evolving and new shops open regularly. The current best shops change faster than any published guide can track, so asking a local resident or checking Burnaby community forums gives more current information than online reviews.
Questions Often Asked
Is Metrotown the biggest mall in BC?
Metrotown is consistently among BC’s largest and highest-grossing retail centres by sales volume. It is one of the largest enclosed malls in British Columbia.
What is unique about shopping at Burnaby Heights?
Burnaby Heights has the most concentrated independent retail in Burnaby, with specialty Greek and Korean food importers, independent clothing boutiques, and the kind of long-established neighbourhood shops that have largely disappeared from Vancouver.
Is Brentwood Town Centre worth visiting for shopping?
Yes, particularly for newer lifestyle retail, specialty food, and restaurant options that came with the redevelopment. The new retail mix is more varied than the original mall and the pedestrian-scaled outdoor areas are pleasant.
What is Lougheed Town Centre best for?
Lougheed is best for Asian grocery shopping and Chinese food retail. The concentration of Asian supermarkets, specialty food stores, and Chinese bakeries around Lougheed is one of the strongest in Metro Vancouver.
