Loblaws City Market opens at new SkyTrain station as South Granville anchor retailer | Daily Hive

Loblaws City Market opens above future SkyTrain station as South Granville's new anchor retailer

Loblaws City Market opening day; The Stories tower at SkyTrain's future South Granville Station, as seen on June 26, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

At street level at the prominent northeast corner of Granville Street and West Broadway, signage for an upcoming Starbucks location has now appeared on a retail unit immediately beside the future entrance to SkyTrain’s South Granville Station.

It is unclear whether this new Starbucks will replace or complement the nearby existing Starbucks location on the ground floor of the Indigo bookstore kitty corner across the intersection.

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Inside the future subway station entrance, clear progress can be seen through the windows on the installation of the pair of escalators that will lead to the station’s underground concourse level, which will also be supplemented by a staircase and an elevator. SkyTrain’s Millennium Line Broadway extension reaching Arbutus is slated to reach completion and open in late 2027.

A year ago, a 40-ft-tall Indigenous public art piece was installed at this corner, concealing a structural concrete column.

the stories south granville station vancouver june 26 2026

Future Starbucks and subway station entrance; The Stories tower at SkyTrain’s future South Granville Station, as seen on June 26, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

Future subway station entrance; The Stories tower at SkyTrain’s future South Granville Station, as seen on June 26, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

SkyTrain Broadway Subway Broadway Extension South Granville Station

November 2020 conceptual design of South Granville Station. (Government of BC)

Just around the corner, past the office lobby entrance, a Royal Bank of Canada branch has opened in a mid-block retail unit — marking the bank’s return to the property after it vacated the site prior to the construction of what is now PCI Developments’ 39-storey The Stories tower, which reached completion in 2025 and is now the tallest building on Vancouver’s Central Broadway corridor. Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership is the project’s architectural design firm.

Further east along West Broadway, at the eastern end of The Stories’ retail-lined street frontage, is the entrance to the new Loblaws City Market grocery store, which celebrated its grand opening today. Due to subway construction, the sidewalk currently ends as a dead end halfway through the block.

A pair of escalators and two elevators connect shoppers to the 19,000 sq. ft. grocery store on the tower’s second level. Inside, shoppers are greeted by expansive floor-to-ceiling windows that provide sweeping views of the surrounding streetscape.

Loblaws City Market South Granville welcomed its first customers Friday morning, becoming the fifth Loblaws City Market location in Metro Vancouver and the third within the city of Vancouver.

The store serves as an anchor retailer of not only this significant mixed-use tower, but also the overall South Granville retail district.

Loblaws City Market opening day; The Stories tower at SkyTrain’s future South Granville Station, as seen on June 26, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

The new grocery store is geared toward urban shoppers seeking both traditional grocery items and ready-to-eat meal options. Customers will find prepared foods such as made-in-store sandwiches, salads, bowls and sushi, alongside a self-serve salad bar, bakery offerings, and full-service meat, seafood and deli counters.

The store also carries a full range of grocery products, including fresh produce, dairy, frozen foods, pantry staples, household items, and natural and organic products. Loblaws says the location will also feature products from local brands, including Bliss Balls, Berry Crispies and Peel Tea.

“We’re excited to welcome customers to our new store and become part of the South Granville community,” said store franchise owner Dan Close in a statement, noting that the location employs over 75 people.

“We know customers are looking for convenient ways to shop without compromising freshness, quality or value. Whether they’re picking up ingredients for dinner, grabbing a prepared meal on the go or looking for great savings on everyday essentials, we’re proud to offer a fresh new grocery experience for the neighbourhood.”

Close brings more than two decades of experience with Loblaw Companies. After joining Real Canadian Superstore in 2003 and holding leadership roles in Alberta, he relocated to Vancouver three years ago. Most recently, he was involved in launching the Loblaws City Market flagship store at The Post in Downtown Vancouver before taking on ownership of the South Granville store, his first franchise location.

With the grocery store directly situated above a future subway station and below over a thousand office workers and rental residents in the tower’s upper levels, and coupled with the significant population growth anticipated across the broader corridor under the Broadway Plan over the long term, the new grocery store is positioned to benefit from a steady stream of customers throughout the day.

Loblaws City Market opening day; The Stories tower at SkyTrain’s future South Granville Station, as seen on June 26, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

Directly above the grocery store, within the remaining levels of the base podium, The Stories contains about 106,000 sq. ft. of office space, with Nicola Wealth Management leasing over 38,000 sq. ft. across two levels. According to newly posted signage, two of the five office floors remain available.

The remaining levels of the tower above the base podium are used for 226 secured purpose-built rental homes, including 181 market rental units and 44 below-market rental units. The residential lobby is located on the building’s mid-block Granville Street frontage, behind Starbucks.

The opening of Loblaws City Market represents a key milestone in the gradual occupancy of The Stories tower and the broader transit-oriented development transformation of the South Granville area, with the tower’s height, density, and uses catalyzed by the SkyTrain extension.

Once the subway opens, the intersection of Granville Street and West Broadway will gain one of the busiest SkyTrain stations on the corridor, bringing thousands of additional people through the area each day and further strengthening its role as a major shopping and employment district.

By 2045, based on previous ridership forecasts with the assumption that the UBC SkyTrain extension west of Arbutus Station will also be completed before then, South Granville Station could become the second busiest station on the 2027-built subway project, with 14,700 boardings per day — just behind the 19,700 boardings of the Broadway-City Hall Station interchange between the Canada Line and Millennium Line, and slightly ahead of the 14,600 boardings of Mount Pleasant Station.

The immediate area will also gain a second major grocery store, with Sobeys planning to open FreshCo within the former Toys ‘R’ Us building on West Broadway, located about three blocks to the east of South Granville Station.

Loblaws City Market opening day; The Stories tower at SkyTrain’s future South Granville Station, as seen on June 26, 2026. (Kenneth Chan)

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