Back in the 1970s, you would find a general dealer's shop like this trading on any number of North East street corners.
Our lovely photograph, from the ChronicleLive archive, and recently rediscovered and digitised, shows Mr and Mrs Frank Kelly standing proudly behind the counter of their grocery store on Beaconsfield Street, Newcastle, on June 21, 1971. For those living in the surrounding teeming streets, the shop - like thousands across the UK - sold the day-to-day essentials that would feed a family and keep the home nipping clean. And for kids, it was a place to fritter away pocket money on sweets and simply hang around outside with your mates.
If Napoleon once reportedly dismissed Britain as a 'nation of shopkeepers', the staple corner shop as we know it has existed since Victorian times. More recently, the familiar setting has been depicted in numerous soap operas, films and sitcoms - BBC's Open All Hours, running between 1976 and 1985 and starring Ronnie Barker and David Jason, being an obvious example.
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These traditional, family-run stores were a place you could pop into for a newspaper, a pint of milk and a friendly natter, but many over time have been lost in a rapidly changing world. Last year, the Food and Drink Industry Magazine warned more than 6,000 convenience stores could close over the following five years in the wake of the pandemic.
Even before that, formal counter service had so often been replaced by grab-and-go shopping. The retail world has changed. The 1950 Shops Act deemed those that were not off licences had to close every evening at 8pm, while only shops selling 'perishable' items could open on Sundays. A change in the law in 1994 exposed 'corner shops' to increased competition from larger stores.
The spread of petrol stations selling food, cigarettes and newspapers, and small inner-city branches of big-name supermarkets offering heavy discounts has also taken customers away.
Our photograph of Mr and Mrs Kelly's shop in 1971 reminds us just how popular tinned foodstuffs were then - while anyone who was around at the time will recall the different brands on display.
- If anyone has any memories of the shop on Newcastle's Beaconsfield Street, or remembers the owners, please feel free to drop an email to: david.morton.editorial@reachplc.com
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