They are at the heart of their communities, handily placed to keep you stocked with household essentials.
This retro photo gallery celebrates the corner shops and newsagents around Sheffield, and the owners who have served us with a smile down the decades.
The images show shops and the people who ran them, in many cases as a family business, across the city, from Page Hall to Ecclesall Road, as recently as the noughties and all the way back to the early 1900s.
Do you remember any of these shops and their owners, and are there any local shops you'd be lost without?
1. Last day
Harry and Jean Richardson at their corner shop on Norton Lees Road, Woodseats, at the junction with Cliffe Field Road, on their last day of trading, July 3, 1976 Photo: Picture Sheffield/Austin Brackenbury
2. Carver Street
Arthur Barber in his corner shop on Carver Street, Sheffield, in around 1950. His daughter Shirley recalled how it used to sell everything from a pin to a sack of potatoes. It was later converted into a sandwich shop before being demolished. Photo: Picture Sheffield
3. Tudor Street
Newsagent Henry Kirk standing outside his shop on Tudor Street, Sheffield, in April 1972, shortly before it was due to be demolished to make way for the town hall extension Photo: Picture Sheffield/Sheffield Newspapers
4. Woodhouse
Dickinson Newsagent, on Chapel Street, Woodhouse, Sheffield, pictured in 1998, when it was celebrating 90 years in business. Seen left to right are Donald Glover, 83, who is the oldest ex-paper boy; Scott Dickinson; and Jamie Flint, 17, the youngest ex-paper boy. They are seen with copies of the Star, of which they have sold over 1 million copies over the years. Photo: Sheffield Newspapers