The vintage horse inside the grocery store at 9106 142 Street NW has been there since the 1960s. Over the past two years three different grocers have run the store around it. One was an independent that lasted almost six decades. One was an artisan market that lasted about thirteen months. The third is a Sobeys-run IGA that has been open about eleven weeks. Sobeys confirmed to Retail Insider that the horse is staying.
That makes the horse the one fixed point in the plaza at 142 Street and 91 Avenue, and the plaza around it has shifted noticeably this fall. The grocery store is open on a new schedule. The restaurant next door has a new name and keeps longer hours. The sidewalks east of 142 Street are in early renewal planning. Taken together, these changes have moved the corner back toward what it was for most of its history: a place to pick up groceries on foot, now open earlier in the morning, with a full-day restaurant next door.
Three Grocers in Two Years
| Period | Operator at 9106 142 Street NW | How it ended or began |
|---|---|---|
| Mid-1960s to July 2024 | Andy's Valleyview IGA | Andy Taschuk retired after 59 years |
| January 31, 2025, to March 12, 2026 | L'OCA Quality Market | The company closed both of its stores |
| August 20, 2026, to now | IGA Valleyview, run by Sobeys | Reopened under the IGA banner |
When L'OCA took over in early 2025, it kept a lot of what was already there. Retail Insider reported that the company kept about 95 percent of Andy's staff, added more kosher products, and kept the horse and some old IGA materials. The store was about 22,000 square feet, much smaller than L'OCA's roughly 45,000-square-foot flagship in Sherwood Park. Partner Ben Cochrane told the outlet he had ridden the horse as a child while visiting his grandparents in the neighborhood.
L'OCA's Valleyview store was built around counters. The Edmonton Journal describes a deli, butcher, bakery, made-to-order pizza, a sandwich counter and a café. It had no wine cellar or sit-down restaurant like the Sherwood Park store. In March 2026 the company said it had been humbled by how hard its locally focused, handcrafted model was to carry out, and that it saw no sustainable way forward. CTV News Edmonton reported March 12 as the last day for both stores.
That left the plaza without a grocer for about five months, from mid-March to late August.
What Came Back, and What Is Different About It
The new store calls itself IGA Valleyview and uses a banner the neighborhood already knew. Opening-day coverage from Alberta Jewish News lists fresh produce, a full-service bakery and deli, ready-to-eat meals, everyday essentials, kosher products including meat, and a range of local products. At the August 20 opening, the store gave $2,500 in gift cards to the Jewish Federation of Edmonton.
Store manager Stuart Trenchard started as a bag boy at the Morinville IGA and later managed and owned other Sobeys stores in the Edmonton region, according to Global News. In the same report, he explained why the location matters to him:
"They can walk here now, they have a community store. They don't have to drive 10 or 15 minutes anymore."
Global News also reported that, according to city councillor Thu Parmar, the store hired about 45 to 50 people, including some former L'OCA staff. That makes this the second time in two years that employees have stayed with the location through a change of operator.
The hours have already changed since opening. On opening day, both Global News and Alberta Jewish News reported hours of 9 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week. The IGA Valleyview store page now lists 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. The store now opens two hours earlier and closes two hours earlier, so it covers the morning, when people pick up milk before work or bread for school lunches. It no longer covers the late evening. It still opens on Sundays. The store's phone number is (587) 489-5344, and the store page is the place to check before a holiday, since it currently lists no holiday hours.
Andy Taschuk was in the crowd on opening morning. "The community around this IGA store is the best community in Edmonton," he told Global News. "They really appreciate the independent grocer." The store that reopened is run by Sobeys rather than by an independent owner. What carries over is the format he described: a small grocer within walking distance, with staff people know and the horse still by the door.
Next Door, a Restaurant Built Around the Same Hours
The grocery store isn't the only part of the plaza that changed this year. On August 3, Only Here for the Food reported that Rebel Food & Drink had moved to Crestwood Centre and that XIX Nineteen would open in its old storefront at 9112 142 Street. Rebel's move added to the turnover along Crestwood's strip, which we covered in our look at Crestwood's commercial corner.
Taproot Edmonton reported that XIX Valleyview opened on September 17. XIX Nineteen is chef Andrew Fung's restaurant. Edify reports that his flagship opened in 2012, and XIX's site lists St. Albert and Terwillegar as its other locations.
The schedule on XIX Valleyview's own page runs across the whole day.
| Service | When, as listed by XIX Valleyview |
|---|---|
| Weekend brunch | Saturdays and Sundays, 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. |
| Lunch | 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Happy hour, dine-in only | Daily, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. to close |
| Dinner | Daily from 5 p.m. |
| Doors | Monday 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Tuesday to Thursday 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday 11:30 a.m. to close; Saturday 10 a.m. to close; Sunday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. |
The menu runs from Tenderloin Sliders, Bang Bang Prawns, Wagyu Beef Gyoza and Smoked Bison Tartare to a brunch list with Picanha Steak & Eggs, Banana French Toast and a Five Spice Bao Benny. There is also a kids' menu.
Set side by side, the two businesses cover nearly the whole day, seven days a week. The grocery store opens at 7 a.m., the restaurant opens for lunch or brunch, and the restaurant's late happy hour runs past the grocery store's 10 p.m. close. The plaza also includes Expedia Cruises, a travel agency at 9110 142 Street NW.
The Walk to the Corner Is Next on the City's List
Trenchard's point about walking to the store ties into the next change near the plaza. The City of Edmonton has selected Parkview (East of 142 Street) for Neighbourhood Renewal, and planning and design are underway now. The online survey for the options-and-tradeoffs stage closed on October 12. The City plans to share a draft design in spring 2027 and ask residents for feedback on it.
The renewal covers residential roads, streetlights, sidewalks, curbs and gutters, and adds missing sidewalk links where possible. Arterial roads and alleys are not included, so the work is focused on the residential streets east of 142 Street. The City also says it will offer cost-sharing through the Local Improvement process for sidewalk reconstruction and decorative streetlight upgrades. The design options booklet is still posted on the project page for anyone who wants to compare it with the draft when it comes out.
A Day at 142 and 91, by the Clock
On the plaza's current posted schedules, an ordinary Saturday works out like this.
- 7 a.m. IGA Valleyview opens.
- 10 a.m. XIX Valleyview opens and serves brunch until noon.
- 2 p.m. XIX's first happy hour starts and runs until 5 p.m.
- 5 p.m. XIX's dinner service begins.
- 8:30 p.m. XIX's second happy hour starts and runs until close.
- 10 p.m. The IGA closes.
Both businesses post their hours on their own sites. Those are the pages to check, since the grocery store's hours have changed once already this fall.
Our team works from Glenora, a few minutes from this corner, and the history of a block like this one shapes how we think about the homes around it. If you're considering a custom build or a renovation within walking distance of 142 Street and 91 Avenue, Rimrock Real Estate would be glad to walk the block with you and talk through what the lot could become.
