Edmonton: Live music while you shop

I live essentially at the corner of Whyte Ave & 112th. The area is know as Garneau and it's mostly populated with students, staff that work at U of A or medical folks that work at the University Hospital. All 3 lifestyles say "busy" and Sobey's has set up a mini grocery store.

Living with a grocery store in your building is best described as kick ass. On the way home from work and hungry? Forget the fast food, you can stop in at Sobey's deli and eat. It's cheaper and healthier. Don't feel like cooking ? Sobey's has a whole bunch of fresh food ready to be taken..and it's good.

The other thing about this mini store is that it's got it's own sit down deli/cafe that even serves alcohol. Not that people are lined up to pour back a pint of Grasshopper, but it's still cool to know you can stop in and have a beer & eat..without having to go to a pub.

I noticed today that the store has gone one step further. To promote it's local eating theme, it's now promoting local live music Friday and Saturday. When's the last time a commercial food chain had live music for it's customers? I'm not sure what type of music it is..but I'm guessing it'll be more singer songwriter focused. Still, I'm impressed..very few commercial places could pull off what this place is doing.

When I leave this area, I will miss having this little store so close by. It's not just the ability to get food without even stepping outside, it's the proximity to food that's healthy & reasonably affordable by Alberta standards. I don't know why more buildings don't have these mini groceries stores. It's not a matter of parking either..there isn't any parking at all for this place.