Topic summary
Corner shop
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Convenience store.
United Kingdom
The corner shop in the United Kingdom grew from the start of the Industrial Revolution, with large populations moving from the agricultural countryside to newly built model townships and later terraced housing in towns and cities. Corner shops were locally owned small businesses, started by entrepreneurs who often had other careers prior to establishing, such a trading business. Many well-known high-street retail brands, such as Marks and Spencer, Sainsbury's and more recently Tesco, originated during the Victorian era as simple, family-owned corner shops.