There are almost 50,000 convenience stores in the UK, offering everything from fruit and veg to home-cooked curries. Here’s how they have fought off Covid, shoplifters, the cost of living crisis …
t’s part of the furniture of British life. The shop on the corner of the street that seems to sell: booze, fags, scratchcards, sweets, pet food and hummus. Those crisps you like – Lay’s, not Walkers – in obscure flavours you usually only find on holiday. You might traipse there in your pyjamas when you’ve run out of milk in the morning, or when you’re desperately seeking a sugar hit to ease your hangover. These shops are in the thick of the drama on TV soaps like Coronation Street and Hollyoaks.
The buzz around the homemade food has widened the circle of customers who come into the shop. “We get people from all walks of life,” Patel says. “Locals use the shop for things they need, or because they love my mum’s food. Earlier today, a man came in who was visiting from New York and had been recommended our food by a friend.”
Even in challenging economic times, Lowman thinks people still need the affordable treats that their local shop provides. Customers might not be going out for dinner as much, but they still treat themselves to little luxuries, like fancy drinks and premium chocolate. It’s this type of adaptability that has been central to the story of Britain’s convenience stores, from greengrocers like McCall’s to the classic family-run corner shop. Journalist Babita Sharma, author of the 2019 memoir, grew up living above stores run by her parents in Reading. Her mother, Prem, and father, Ved, moved to the UK from India in the late 60s and set up shop in 1977. During the energy blackouts, her parents sold paraffin and kept the shop illuminated with candles.
In cities, small local shops are fighting against the slow march of urban gentrification. Ali, who works in Beatles News on Victoria Street in Liverpool, says that inflation has affected footfall in the shop, while rent in the city centre continues to rise. McCall says that his premises are under threat from developers, who want to buy the land from the council to build blocks of flats. “We know we’re not going to be able to stop it,” he says.
Perhaps the biggest threat to convenience stores is a declining number of people who want to work in them. McCall says that, even if his premises weren’t under threat from developers, none of his children want to take on the shop and continue its 128-year history, because they’ve seen him working for seven days a week and want to do something different.
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