day 1: bobby's news

Hello everyone! I've now visited the first shop on my list. I don't have a specific structure in mind for how these posts will be written, so it may change as I go along, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.

On day one of my odyssey I visited Bobby's News, a corner shop with a beacon-like sign right at the top of Gloucester Road. It's on the smaller end, at least for the other corner shops on that section of the road. I went in late at night to get, amongst other things, a lighter. Sticking to my rules, I did buy some food, namely some chocolate & sweets. There's nothing special to report about my snacks unfortunately.

Bobby's was refurbished fairly recently, not too long after I moved into the area last year. It now looks a lot like the other "new generation" corner shops, with pristine modern shelving, and a way-too-bright sign. The Google street view entry, from June 2025, has the old iteration, with its run-down blue charm. The name is very endearing. I wonder who Bobby is.

Unfortunately for Bobby, his choice in stock isn't anything that interesting. It's a corner shop. It sells corner shop things. There's no specific national niche it sticks to. Don't mistake a lack of intrigue for dislike, however. Bobby is reliable. If I want some crisps, or a sweet treat, I can trust Bobby. Fortunately for Bobby too, all of the staff I've been served by have been lovely. Really cheerful, which I imagine can be a hard act to keep up late at night.

I love corner shops, and their shopkeepers. A shopkeeper was one of the first members of public to gender me correctly, when I was much earlier in my transition. As I said, they're reliable. I'm moving soon, and my closest corner shop will be a Tesco Express. I shouldn't be calling that a corner shop, not really. I can't trust a Tesco Express in the same way I can trust Bobby. Fortunately for this series, however, Bobby's is just the start in a long line of corner shops all the way down Gloucester Road. My next two visits are to corner shops. They're about as populous as hair salons, a category I'm looking forward to much less.

A Guardian article once compared corner shops to a cat with nine lives. As I've said, reliable. The bastion of convenience. Whilst the high street suffers from online shopping, the corner shop remains stalwart. It's in my family history too, with my paternal grandparents running one for a period. I don't think I'll ever forget my childhood corner shop, on West Bromwich Street in Walsall, opposite the Guru Nanak Gurdwara. Checking Google maps, it's still open (at least, in July 2024)! They had a pick'n'mix there, and I'd spend the grand total of one pound to get a little plastic bag full of an assortment of sweets. I wonder when the last time I went was. I wonder when the last time I go to Bobby's will be. I wonder if I'll know it to be the last time. I wonder if I'll say goodbye.