The Changing Face Of The Corner Shop

How it changed - the Corner Shop as featured in the original opening titles of Coronation Street in 1960 - a view of Archie Street; with its new frontage in 1964; and in 1985 as Alf's brand new mini market.

First in a series of posts in which we take a look at The Street and its changing architecture over the years.

I'm starting with the Corner Shop at No 15 because it was a favourite Street location of mine - I fantasised about owning it when I was a youngster. Move aside, Maggie Clegg and Renee Bradshaw!

We know that the Corner Shop experienced several changes of ownership in the 1960s and '70s - from Florrie Lindley to Lionel Petty, from Lionel Petty to David and Irma Barlow, from David and Irma Barlow to the Clegg family, and from the Clegg family to Renee Bradshaw.

The shop enjoyed a brief period with a sub post office added in the mid-1960s and a longer-lasting change with the addition of an off-licence in 1976.

Remember the 1980s, when the shop was owned by Alf Roberts (Bryan Mosley)? After the death of his wife Renee (Madge Hindle) in July 1980, Alf was the shop man for the rest of the decade and into the early 1990s.

Let's take a look at the structural alterations made to the shop in the 1960s and 1980s...

In the beginning, as Florrie Lindley (Betty Alberge) took over the shop from Elsie Lappin (Maudie Edwards), the shop door was on the corner of Coronation Street and Viaduct Street, with display windows in both streets.

This was based on the original model for Coronation Street, Archie Street in Ordsall.

Archie Street had an off-licence on the corner which provided the inspiration for the Corrie Corner Shop architecture.

Back to the story-line.

Always a quiet soul, Florrie Lindley never really made much of an impression on the Street, the biggest surprise being the arrival of her husband after she'd claimed to be a widow, but she did make an impact on the Corner Shop. It was towards the end of Florrie's reign at the shop that she had the frontage rebuilt and the door moved from its position on the corner. The new frontage had a door opening straight on to Coronation Street and a small display window to its right.

And that's the way it stayed until long after Florrie's departure in 1965 - right up to 1985 in fact, when Alf Roberts had the shop made into a mini market. This meant interior changes - the disappearance of the living room at the back which became additional shop space - and a new, more modern self service system.

Last days of the old Corner Shop - the Street c. early 1985 - shortly before the mini market.

Alf actually wanted to enlarge his little empire dramatically and incorporate the house next door, No 13, into his new scheme of things. But when this plan failed to come to fruition, he settled for transforming the existing shop premises.

And what a dramatic transformation it was!

The frontage was totally altered - now having a smart new metal door, a tiled surround, a very '80s red-on-white sign proclaiming "CORNER SHOP" and a new window emblazoned: "ALF'S MINI MARKET".

This was the first time the words 'Corner Shop' had ever appeared on the shop sign, so although Alf was going modern, the name on the main sign sign indicated his loyalty to tradition.

The change meant a great increase in ranges stocked. There was far more shelf space and chiller cabinets too!

The premises were suddenly pulled out of the mid-1960s and into the mid-1980s. It was at this point that the Corner Shop entered its modern day era.

Alf adored the place - he was a dedicated Mr Green The Grocer, although wife Audrey (Sue Nicholls), who married Alf in 1985, was never that keen.

However with shop assistants Deirdre Langton/Barlow (Anne Kirkbride), who first worked there in 1980, and Sally Webster (Sally Dynevor), who took Deirdre's place in 1987, the Corner Shop continued to hold its own - even against competition like the Bettabuys supermarket, which was introduced in 1989.

The shop was much handier than Bettabuys - and the quality of the gossip on offer much higher!

In fact, throughout the first three decades, the gossip which bounced around the Corner Shop's walls was second to none!

And I daresay that's something which hasn't changed to this day!

1962: IIUIIIILY & IAIIILPS Superior Reading Biscuits - Get 'Em At The Corner Shop!

It's 1962, and Martha Longhurst (Lynne Carol), Minnie Caldwell (Margot Bryant) and Florrie Lindley (Betty Alberge) are horrified to see Christine Hardman (Christine Hargreaves) up on the raincoat factory roof, contemplating suicide.

In their angst, nobody seems to have noticed that Mrs Lindley is selling "IIUIIIILY & IAIIILPS [how on earth did you pronounce it?!!] Superior Reading Biscuits" at the Corner Shop.

Brand names were a problem for the Coronation Street production team for years, as it was assumed that the merest glimpse of a known brand name would be unpaid advertising - and send we viewers scrurrying out in our thousands to buy the product. So, the names would be heavily disguised (did IUIIIILY & IAIIILPS start out as Huntley and Palmer's, I wonder?) and you could end up with pure gobbledygook. It was better to stick a "Starmark", "Key" or "Fantasy" label over the offending trade name, as was often the case later.

However, there could be slip-ups. In Mrs Lindley's window can also be seen the highly distinctive Kellogg's brand name, looking slightly blurred but still recognisable!

Dependable Maggie Clegg (Irene Sutcliffe) appears to have scratched most of the Kellogg's name off of this box of Rice Krispies in the 1970s! "Really, Mrs Clegg, one feels one must protest at the dire state of your merchandise! If the box is in that state, what on earth must the contents be like?!"

HV Kershaw, Corrie writer and producer, recalled in his fascinating 1981 memoir, The Street Where I Live, that one incumbent at the Corner Shop caused the production team a severe headache. A recognisable tinned brand name was tucked away behind some dummy "Key" brand tins on the Corner Shop shelf. Unfortunately, the shop owner accidentally fumbled behind the dummy tins and produced one of the recognisable brand variety, telling her customer that she knew it wasn't as good as her usual brand, but it was all she had in stock at the moment! The manufacturer was quick to pick up the phone and dial Granada!

Mind you, that wouldn't go down too well in the current day and age!

Rosamund Street, 1963

A beautifully detailed Coronation Street jigsaw puzzle design from c. 1963. Ena Sharples and Martha Longhurst are standing on the corner of Bessie Street, observing Minnie Caldwell escorting a local moggy (possibly Bobby!) across the busy main road - with the aid of Albert Tatlock, lollipop man.

Florrie Lindley is also an onlooker. Gamma Garments, workplace of Mr Swindley, Miss Nugent and Doreen Lostock, ruled by the unseen but terrifying Mr Papagopolous, can be seen in the background. "VOTE FOR SWINDLEY!" proclaims a poster on the side of the building - recalling Mr Swindley's foray into local politics as the leader of the Property Owners And Small Traders Party. Beside Gamma is a tobacco kiosk, and beside that a laundrette. The bus, a No 63, is heading for Victoria Street, Coronation Street, Rosamund Street and the Town Centre.