They are always there when disaster strikes, like when there’s no milk for your morning tea.
The people who run them, often working long hours to keep you stocked with all the daily essentials, are the unsung heroes of every community.
They are the friendly, familiar faces, always looking out for their customers, and often the most reliable source of local gossip.
This retro photo gallery, chronicling corner shops across Sheffield from the 60s to the 90s, is a tribute to those characters and the popular stores they ran.
Many of the corner shops pictured have sadly succumbed over the years to competition from supermarkets and, more recently, online shopping.
But others have stayed the distance, showing their worth more than ever during times of great adversity, like when the Covid pandemic struck.
Do these photos bring back any memories of your old local corner shop, and what’s the one shop in your community you’d be lost without?
All the photos featured are shared courtesy of Picture Sheffield.
1. Woodseats
Harry and Jean Richardson in their corner shop, at the junction of Norton Lees Road and Cliffe Field Road, Woodseats, on the last day of trading, in 1976 | Picture Sheffield/Austin Brackenbury Photo: Picture Sheffield/Austin Brackenbury
2. Netherthorpe
Corner shop at the junction of Brook Drive and Upper Allen Street, Netherthorpe, with The Albion pub nextdoor, in June 1965 | Picture Sheffield Photo: Picture Sheffield
3. Netherthorpe
J. Beer greengrocers on the corner of Fawcett Street and St Stephen's Road, looking down to E. Gowe grocers on the corner of Bromley Street, and the Netherthorpe flats, in July 1965 | Picture Sheffield/Sheffield Newspapers Ltd Photo: Picture Sheffield/Sheffield Newspapers Ltd
4. Walkley
Corner shop at the junction of Greenhow Street and Heavygate Road, Walkley, in January 1967 | Picture Sheffield Photo: Picture Sheffield