Time for change at the Corner Shop?

(This post was originally posted by Chewy on the Coronation Street Blog in August 2016, reposted to this blog with permission.)

Dev Alahan has been the Corner Shop boss for a long time now, 17 years in fact, which got me thinking, maybe it's time for a change at the Corner Shop.

I do like Dev as a character, he's strange but likeable.

The Corner Shop however does feel a bit wasted on Dev, most of the scenes we see these days are between Dev, Mary and Erica. It doesn't really feel like a meeting place for characters like it used to, especially now that characters like Molly and Sophie no longer work there.

It would be interesting to see perhaps a new character coming into the street and buying the shop from Dev, who still has Prima Donner to share scenes with other characters.

Perhaps even Freshco could open a mini market there, and bring in a manager.

With Kate Oates first episode airing today, I wonder if we will begin to see some changes on the Street?



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Wanted: Spirited shopkeeper for Weatherfield store

(This post was originally posted by Clinkers (David) on the Coronation Street Blog in August 2013.)

Like many others, I went into a bit of a slump on hearing the news that Katy Cavanagh had decided to hang up her high heels and take her leave of the Street. Joyous Julie will be no more. While it's great news for the actor, Katy's impending departure scuppers my plans for her to reign supreme in the Corner Shop. Of course, these plans begin and end in my own mind. Who could be bothered with the minutiae of real life when you can gaze out of the window and map out the rise and rise of the People's Doris Day?

For me, the Corner Shop symbolises a wasted opportunity. Forever and a day it has been central to life on the Street but of late, the shop has become marginalised. I think there may be a staffing problem. Now don't get me wrong - I'm partial to a bit of Comedy Dev and even So-feh has her moments. Together though, they ain't Team Shop.

The dream teams at number fifteen are numerous. Maggie and Norma. Alf and the incomparable Deirdre. Alf and Sally. Maureen and Maud. Memorable colleagues one and all. Sometimes the pairings floundered. The Welsh granny and Nora Batty were about as appetising as a Marmite and coleslaw balm cake. Tricia and Gail were a giggling nightmare. Ravi 'dear lady' Desai and his miserable daughter. Brendan Scott and Emily 'Upstairs Downstairs' Bishop.

It's about time the shop was back where it belongs, at the heart of this small community. That doesn't mean turning back the clock forty years and littering the place with bacon slicers and people coughing over the cake selections. The shop needs a strong female presence. Maybe a woman in her late forties, possibly freshly divorced or widowed, setting out on a new adventure in life. Her own shop. With the kids off her hands, this is now 'her time'. Of course, the kids would soon roll up and disrupt things but it could be an interesting story.

Years ago, the Street had fewer places for social interaction. If you weren't knocking down a milk stout in the Rovers or dropping off your order with Maggie/Renee (delete as applicable) then your only other chance for a gossip indoors would have been to jam yourself in Rita's lending library/café with Uncle Albert. Nowadays, the Street residents can ricochet from gym to café to kebab shop to Weatherfield General.

The Corner Shop could have been Julie's little bit of heaven but it's not be. However, it's time for this palace of provisions to regain its rightful place at the heart of Street life. We want a cheery, no-nonsense shopkeeper serving up homespun philosophies, a shoulder to cry on - and no eclairs.



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Little Shops of Horrors

(This post was originally posted by Clinkers (David) on the Coronation Street Blog in September 2014.)


A thriving hotbed of commerce it is not. You get the impression that the Weatherfield Wayfarer will never have to run multiple services in order to ferry the masses to the shopping mecca that is Coronation Street. Even the business-savvy combination of Mary Portas and Alex Polizzi would wither under the effort of trying to breathe life into the motley trio of corner shop, Kabin and pawn parlour. Was it always like this?

Fade to sepia-tinted memories of Corrie-long-gone and yours truly blethering on, teary-eyed, about how wonderful it all was back then. Except of course it wasn't. The corner shop was always exerted a feeling of mortal dread. From day one we had to contend with Florrie Lindley stacking tins in a dangerous manner, serving up eggs in paper bags and wantonly flogging fire-lighters whenever she felt like it. The woman should have been imprisoned and the shop demolished. Fast forward to the seventies and there was no sign of Weatherfield's environmental health officers as the brazen Maggie Clegg happily sliced bacon covered in a delicate crust of fag-ash. Okay, we know that some of her regular clients were doddering and not particularly fussy but even they never queried why Maggie spent precious time covering brand names with black tape or arranging cans in covert fashion. Bless Maggie and all those who sailed after her for continually having to contend with locals asking for a 'pack of my usual'. "Usual what?" she should have screamed, "Playing cards? Condoms? Firelighters?"

Today the shop seems to serve as an area for Sophie to slouch in, shoving produce across the counter with as much contempt as she can muster. If she's not half comatose across the hob-nobs, then she's hurling peanuts at Maddeh. Better that than Dev having a meltdown or MELTdown as he would probably bellow. It's time for the shop to return to providing good service with a side order of salacious gossip. Cometh the hour, cometh the tabard, cometh Julie Carp. Dear, dotty old Julie would shine behind that counter.

Across the cobbles and we bow down before the glittering Palace of Sanctimony. Please step inside for newspapers, a quarter of sweets and a good old talking down to by Mother Earth. Be brave and try a little chit-chat with Rio Rita and within seconds she will have, in a caring, considerate and non-patronising way, put you right. It's her way or the highway so think on. Or if you are unlucky, service will be provided by a shrewish camp old man. You will never want to shop there again. Not for you the selection of unheard of magazines and worrying selection boxes.

Compared to yesteryear though, the Kabin is a customer's dream. Forty years ago, a trip to the shop would have entailed shuffling down some alley. Once through the door, you would be greeted by a clapped-out cabaret singer and a nervous wreck who would happily dish out sweets from suspect jars whilst you browsed the Peters & Lee LPs, selected the latest Margaret Drabble from the library section and were then ushered to a tiny table where you were served tea in the company of Albert Tatlock. Had the Kabin remained in the same premises, Mavis would now been offering a tattooing service in the flat while Rita flogged you a mobile phone. Let's not even get started on the medieval wooden till.

Every other consumer option currently on offer is seriously warped. A meal at the Bistro/Nick's Place/Whatever consists of being shown to a table six inches from the main door in order to watch the owner's family provide a pantomime of abuse and name calling. Pop over to the kebab shop and it's Munch's Scream dishing out chilli sauce with added venom. Shuffle on down to Tracy's Tat for a plethora of stolen hairdryers and a proprietor who begins every sentence with a sarcastic "Well hello?"

Does the Street offer value for money and service with a smile? Should we be hoping for 'under new management' signs gracing the shop windows? Or should we all just clamber aboard the Weatherfield Wayfarer and head for the Arndale Centre?




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Corrie A-Z: C is for the Corner Shop (Part 2: 1980- )

(This post was originally posted by Llifon on the Coronation Street Blog in May 2013.)

Having looked at the Corner Shop between 1960 and 1980 on Wednesday, today we look at the shop since 1980.

Alf Roberts 1980-1993, 1993-1994 

For me, this was the corner shop’s golden era. Indeed, Alf is still synonymous for his role as the street’s grocer. In 1985, the shop became a self-service establishment and Alf calls it the ‘Mini Market’. The same year he married Audrey Potter. Over the years he employed Deirdre Langton/Barlow, Sally Webster and Ivy Brennan and Audrey helped him out from time to time. In 1993, Alf sold the shop to Brendan Scott but bought it back upon Brendan’s sudden death. He sold it again in 1994 to Reg Holdsworth and took the ham slicer with him as a memento.

Brendan Scott 1993

Brendan renamed the shop ‘Best Buys’ and adapted an historical theme to the shop’s outlook. He kept Deirdre on as an assistant plus Emily Bishop. Nicky Platt became his delivery boy. But like Lionel Petty, he’s not a favourite with the locals unlike Alf. But the strain of managing the shop got to Brendan and he collapses of a fatal heart attack at the shop. His widow sells the shop and Alf buys it back.

Reg Holdsworth (1994-1996), Maureen Holdsworth/Elliott (1996-1997) and Fred Elliott (1997-1999)

Reg ran the shop with wife Maureen and mother-in-law Maud Grimes but soon got a job at supermarket Firman’s Freezers and left Maureen to run the shop with Sally Webster doing the odd evening-shift. Reg left Maureen for Lowestoft with his pregnant mistress and Maureen was given the shop in the divorce settlement. Maureen ran the shop with mum Maud. Sally leaves her post as assistant and Claire Palmer takes it up until early 1997. Maureen marries butcher Fred Elliott but after a week runs off with Bill Webster and Fred takes up the shop. Fred reluctantly took up the shop to Maud’s chagrin. After two years he sells up to Ravi Desai.

Ravi Desai 1999

Ravi owned a string of small shops in Weatherfield. After charming the likes of Alma, Audrey and Rita, Ravi left for India and sold his empire to his nephew Dev. Ravi’s assistants were his daughter Nita and son Vikram.

Dev Alahan 1999-

Dev is the current owner of the Corner Shop. Among his assistants have been Deirdre Rachid, Sunita Pareck/Alahan, Amber Kalirai, Sophie Webster, Leanne Battersby, Molly Dobbs and Jenna Kamara. Since Dev took over the shop, the shop has been destroyed twice: gutted in a fire started by Maya Sharma in 2004; and in 2010 when a tram crashed into it, killing Molly and trapping Sunita.

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Who should run the Corrie Corner Shop?

(This post was originally posted by Graeme N on the Coronation Street Blog November 2012, reposted to this blog with permission.)

After blogging about who would make the ideal Rovers Return landlady, it got me thinking about other businesses in Coronation Street. I cannot think of anyone behind the counter of the Kabin apart from Rita and Norris. The Salon without Audrey would be sacrilege. And Roy's Rolls without Roy? Never! However, I do think Dev has outstayed his welcome at the Corner Shop. 

What a good opportunity to take a look back at previous Corner Shop owners I hear you cry. Ok, let's do it!

The first scene of the first ever episode of Coronation Street was set in the Corner Shop. The then current incumbent, Elsie Lappin, was handing over the reigns to new owner Florrie Lindley. 

Well, we couldn't have two Elsie's in the one street, could we? Florrie managed the shop for the first five years of the show, before the actress was axed by incoming producer TIm Aspinall in the mid-60s. 

Characters such as Lionel Petty and David and Irma Barlow also took charge of the shop during the 1960s before it was sold to Maggie Clegg in 1968. I really liked Maggie's character and thought she fitted in well on the Street.
 
However, these days she is really remembered as Betty Turpin's sister. Betty arrived a year after her sister and often helped out in the shop. 

Following Maggie's marriage and departure to Zaire in 1974, the Hopkins family arrived. Their tenure was short-lived as they proved unpopular with viewers, although they did introduce us to the wonderful Tricia Hopkins, friend to Gail Potter. I would love for Tricia to return as Gail really needs a friend again! The Corner Shop was also involved in scandal when the Hopkins' found proof that Betty Turpin was in fact the mother of Gordon Clegg, who had previously been known as Maggie's son.

My favourite boss of the Corner Shop has to be Alf Roberts. Originally a GPO (or Post Office worker) Alf became involved with the shop through marriage to Renee Bradshaw in 1978. Renee had bought the shop in 1976, immediately causing consternation by applying for a licence to sell alcohol. This brought the wrath of Annie Walker to her door, although the pair were subsequently on good terms (apart from when Annie frequently expressed her dismay at the poor variety of products available in the shop). Alf firmly donned the white grocer's coat after Renee's sad demise in a car accident in 1980 and ruled behind the counter until the mid-1990s. I loved this period - particularly his squabbles with his third wife, Audrey. Alf obviously took great pride in his little empire and was loathe to finally give it up. 

I would rather gloss over Reg Holdsworth's involvement in the Corner Shop, as I'd rather gloss over Reg in general. I still shudder at memories of his water bed, not to mention his truly dreadful wig. I did however enjoy seeing Maureen's mother Maud working in the shop. A latter day Ena Sharples, I loved Elizabeth Bradley's performances. It is often forgotten that she was in fact the first Coronation Street character to use a wheelchair. 

Fred Elliott and his son Ashley also ran the Corner Shop for a time before ownership was passed on to businessman Ravi Desai and his children Nita and Vikram. While both Ravi and Nita were relatively short-term characters, I did like Vikram, particularly his relationship with Steve MacDonald at Streetcars. Unfortunately the arrival of the Desai's ultimately led to Dev Alahan making an appearance. Dev was Vikram's cousin and took over the shop after the family left. Originally Dev ran the shop as part of a chain, however following Mad Maya's reign of terror, most of these disappeared (along with his countless other children) or were sold off. After being burned to the ground by Maya and then destroyed by a careering tram, we haven't seen much of the shop in recent times. I think it's time for a change of ownership.

So who was your favourite Corner Shop boss? Has Dev outstayed his welcome? Who is the true 21st Century heir to Alf Roberts' Corner Shop throne? And while I'm here I'll take a bottle of bleach and half a dozen of them fancies - and NO eclairs!


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