FreshCo opens its first Vancouver store in the old Toys 'R' Us, under the BowMac sign
The Sobeys-owned discount grocer opened Thursday at 1154 West Broadway, with two hours of free rooftop parking and international foods from South Asia, the Caribbean and Europe.
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The Sobeys-owned discount grocer FreshCo opened its first Vancouver store on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 1154 West Broadway, at the southeast corner of West Broadway and Alder Street. It sits in the old Toys 'R' Us building, the box most people on the Broadway bus corridor will know, and the groceries are now on the floor where the toys used to be.
The store is about 29,000 square feet in a renovated single-storey building that includes the former Babies 'R' Us space. The deferred maintenance from Toys 'R' Us's final years appears to have been resolved. The rooftop parking lot was kept and upgraded, and shoppers get two hours free while they shop.
The main entrance is the former Babies 'R' Us door near the western end of the block, next to the TransLink bus stop and the staircase up to the roof. The exit is the former Toys 'R' Us entrance, mid-block, after the cashiers. Hours are daily from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., closed Christmas Day.
Inside you will find fresh produce, meat, refrigerated and frozen foods, pantry staples and baked goods. The selection includes international foods from South Asia, the Caribbean and Europe. Weekly deals and Scene+ promotions apply.
It serves the Central Broadway district and Fairview, and frequent buses run on West Broadway, Oak and Granville. It is about an eight-minute walk to Oak-VGH Station on Laurel and about 12 minutes to South Granville Station on Granville. Two stations on the Millennium Line Broadway extension are due to open there in late 2027.
The store manager is Krystal Macdonald. The grand opening included a ribbon cutting.
The BowMac sign, built in 1958 and described as the largest freestanding sign in North America, was designated a protected city heritage landmark in 1997. Its heritage status was tied to the lease between the property owner and Toys 'R' Us, and its future after the lease change was unclear when Sobeys filed its development permit application.
Toys 'R' Us closed the location in 2025, ahead of its long-term lease expiration.
FreshCo opened a Vancouver Island store in June and recently added two Calgary locations as part of a broader Western Canada expansion.
