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.

29. Highfield
Corner shop at the junction of Thorp Road and Hill Street, Highfield, in January 1975 | Picture Sheffield Photo: Picture Sheffield

30. Burngreave
Corner shop and off licence (licensee, Brian Edward Cosford, at the junction of Petre Street and Lyons Street, Burngreave, pictured some time during the 1960s or 70s | Picture Sheffield Photo: Picture Sheffield

31. Sharrow
Corner shop on Stalker Lees Road, Sharrow, pictured some time between 1960 and 1979 | Picture Sheffield/Pete Hill Photo: Picture Sheffield/Pete Hill

32. Totley
Grocers shop on the corner of Hillfoot Road and Baslow Road, Totley, Sheffield, in July 1967 | Picture Sheffield/R.Brightman Photo: Picture Sheffield/R.Brightman

