If a grocery store changes its name twice in two years, how much of the original store is still there?
At 9106 142 Street NW, a vintage horse has been inside the store since the 1960s, and each new operator has brought on staff from the one before. The building has sold groceries to Parkview for more than sixty years. The sign over the door has changed from Andy's Valleyview IGA to L'OCA Quality Market and, since August 20, 2026, to Valleyview IGA. The latest gap between grocers lasted five months.
Three signs, one address
Most people on the surrounding streets know parts of this story. Here it is in order.
| When | What happened at 9106 142 Street NW |
|---|---|
| Mid-1960s onward | Andy's Valleyview IGA opens. Andy Taschuk goes on to operate it for 59 years |
| End of July 2024 | Taschuk retires and Andy's Valleyview IGA closes |
| January 31, 2025 | L'OCA Quality Market opens in the space |
| March 12, 2026 | L'OCA closes its Edmonton and Sherwood Park stores |
| June 2026 | IGA signage approved for the property, and Sobeys recruits a management team |
| July 6, 2026 | CTV reports construction underway and hiring signs posted |
| August 20, 2026 | Valleyview IGA reopens under Sobeys |
The store sits in the Valleyview Shopping Centre on 142 Street at 91 Avenue. The site has gone without a grocer twice since 2024: for about six months between Andy's closing and L'OCA opening, and for about five months between L'OCA closing and the IGA opening.
What carried over when L'OCA moved in
When L'OCA took over the former Andy's IGA, it held on to most of the staff and some of the store's history. Ben Cochrane, a partner at L'OCA Market, told Retail Insider that the company kept about 95 per cent of Andy's former staff. It also kept historical pieces of the store, including old IGA materials and the horse. Cochrane said the horse had been there since the 1960s, and he remembered riding it as a child when he visited his grandparents in the neighborhood.
Inside, the concept changed a lot. The Edmonton L'OCA covered about 22,000 square feet, a smaller version of the company's roughly 45,000-square-foot flagship in Sherwood Park. The Edmonton Journal described a deli, butcher and bakery, an on-demand pizzeria, a deli sandwich counter, and a cafe serving fresh coffee and house-made gelato.
So when the store changed hands the first time, the shelves and counters changed, but the people behind them mostly stayed. Staff carried over at the second change as well.
The five months after March
L'OCA announced in March 2026 that it would close both stores and its restaurant operations on March 12. It also cancelled a planned St. Albert location. The company said the difficulty of running its locally focused, handcrafted model had humbled it, and that it did not see a sustainable way forward. The Edmonton store had been open for about 13 months.
From mid-March until late August, the 142 Street site sat empty. Other supermarkets in west Edmonton include:
- Safeway Meadowlark, 8720 156 Street, with an in-store bakery and sushi counter
- FreshCo Jasper Gates, 15006 Stony Plain Road NW
- Italian Centre Shop West End, 17010 90 Avenue, which has a cafe
Store manager Stuart Trenchard told Global News that customers now have a community store nearby and no longer need to drive 10 or 15 minutes for one.
Customers didn't wait for the opening date to show interest. Trenchard told Global News that people had been "knocking on the doors for two months" while construction was going on. By the time CTV Edmonton reported construction and hiring signs on July 6, the store was already being rebuilt.
What came back on August 20
Sobeys reopened the store as Valleyview IGA five months after L'OCA closed. According to Retail Insider, it carries fresh produce, a full-service bakery and deli, ready-to-eat meals and a range of local products, and Sobeys tied the selection to its support for Alberta producers.
Staff carried over again. City councillor Thu Parmar told Global News that the new IGA has hired about 45 to 50 people, including some former L'OCA staff. "That's hiring students, that's hiring people in this neighbourhood who can also work and live in their neighbourhood," she said.
Sobeys confirmed to Retail Insider that the horse will remain in the store. On opening day, Global News reported, Andy Taschuk was one of dozens of people waiting for the store to reopen. "The community around this IGA store is the best community in Edmonton. They really appreciate the independent grocer," he told the outlet. He also described grocery stores as something close to a community gathering place.
Here is what has changed and what hasn't across the three operators:
| Andy's Valleyview IGA | L'OCA Quality Market | Valleyview IGA | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Years at 9106 142 St | About 59 | About 13 months | Since August 20, 2026 |
| Staff | Original team | Kept about 95% of Andy's staff | Hired 45–50, including some former L'OCA staff |
| The horse | In the store since the 1960s | Kept | Staying, per Sobeys |
| Food focus | Neighborhood grocer | Prepared foods, butcher, bakery, cafe, gelato | Produce, bakery, deli, ready-to-eat meals, local products |
Why the banner still counts
The new manager has his own history with the IGA name. Trenchard started as a bag boy at the Morinville IGA and worked his way up to managing and owning other Sobeys properties in the Edmonton region. He told Global News that he began at IGA when he was 14, and that the reopening "brings back a lot of memories, feelings, emotions for me."
John Pracejus, director of the University of Alberta's school of retailing, explained the business case in the same Global News story. With food prices rising in recent years, he said, a neighborhood store under a familiar name draws shoppers, and "people that remember that store being there for decades and decades are probably going to give it another shot and maybe return."
In other words, Sobeys is relying on the same continuity that kept the horse in place and carried staff from one operator to the next. The IGA name on 142 Street has decades of history behind it, and the company chose to bring it back rather than start over.
The rest of a 142 Street errand run
The IGA is one stop on a short stretch of 142 Street. A few blocks north, two specialty shops offer more nearby options:
- Careit Urban Deli, 9672 142 Street NW, sells sandwiches, soups, prepared meals and local fare, and has a butcher case.
- COBS Bread Crestwood, 9680 142nd Street NW.
With a full grocery store back at 91 Avenue, the weekly shop, the deli and the bakery are once again on the same short stretch of 142 Street. Hours and store details can change, so check the Valleyview IGA store page and each shop's own site before a special trip.
A nearby grocer and an errand-friendly stretch of 142 Street are the kind of detail that shapes daily life on the streets around Valleyview Shopping Centre. If you're curious how that sort of everyday convenience plays into what your Parkview home is worth today, Franco Maione can prepare a calm, detailed home valuation that accounts for the neighborhood around your address as well as the house itself.
