L’OCA Quality Foods has opened a new supermarket in Edmonton’s Parkview area in the city’s northwest.

The new store is L’OCA’s first location within Edmonton’s city limits and comes after the grocery retailer opened its inaugural outlet in Sherwood Park, Alta., a bedroom community in Alberta’s capital region.

L’OCA leased space in the former Andy IGA location at 9106 142nd Street N.W. The new store includes a former mechanical rocking horse that was an Andy’s fixture for decades.

In a tribute to the legacy of the former grocery store and the community it served, L’OCA has restored and reinstalled the iconic horse in its new location.

“The community response has been tremendous,” Ben Cochrane, CEO of L’OCA told Postmedia. “We get hundreds of questions a week online and calls to the store and stuff like that and got quite a bit of feedback when people saw the billboards for the horse.”

Cochrane told Postmedia that L’OCA refurbished the old horse, and it remains in working condition, just as it did more than 30 years ago when he used to visit the store with his grandparents, who lived nearby.

“It’s just this community kind of icon that, you know, it’s older than I am, so it’s nice to be able to make it a part of the store again,” Cochrane told Postmedia.

L’OCA’s Sherwood Park opening included the new grocery store, two restaurants, and a wine store.

“It was definitely a lot to bite off and chew,” Cochrane told Postmedia. “We learned a lot of exciting lessons.”

While the new store features some changes, Cochrane emphasized that the team has maintained a strong connection to the past. One significant continuity is the staff—he noted that “almost all” of the former IGA employees have remained on board with L’OCA.

Pictured: Interior of L’OCA’s new Edmonton store.

Photo: L’OCA