A new arrival of the supermarket Tesco has been a wonderful addition to the small parade of shops on Whitton Road near to Twickenham station however, as useful as this may be to the locals, what does this mean for all local corner shops? I talked to Alexander Talver about what he thinks about the new Tesco’s and what he thinks about the future of Corner shops in his area.  

 Opening its doors on the 21st of August, providing multiple new jobs for local adults and with 16-hour open time 7 days a week, this Tesco express is becoming a well-loved and successful shop in Twickenham. However, nearby corner shop Food land has been serving loyal customers from this side of the station for many years now and is in a battle with Tesco now as they are almost next-door neighbours. Throughout Twickenham's recent history, many big brand shops have opened and closed in the Highstreet. However, the most sufficient shops that always stay open are the supermarkets. Supermarkets are everyone's favourite high street shop no matter where you go. Everyone relies on supermarkets and are thankful that they are so accessible. Alexander Talver tells how he ‘can’t imagine living in Twickenham without a supermarket within 10 minutes from where I am’.  being asked what he tends to shop for in these supermarkets he responds with ‘whenever I need a specific item, my first option is to try find the item in the big Tesco, however if the item is a drink or some sweets, I would first go to the corner shop’. Alexander continues with how he feels that ‘most the time I actually find that Corner shops have more range, for example in my local Corner shop, they have more drink options whereas in Tesco it is very limited.’ 

Tesco’s is the country's biggest and the world's 4th most popular supermarket. This means that no matter where you place one, it will be busy and used often. This is proving how local corner shops will be no competition to this megastore. Foodland has very little staff and is rarely used for more than just schoolkids buying sweets or young adults buying alcohol on the weekends. This is not providing this convenient store with much income. However, Corner shops in Twickenham are always loved and always used by people. Just down the road on Heath road, small corner shop Bubbles outlived the supermarket Morrison's just opposite. Morrison's had a short run in the high street, but Bubbles has been in the same location for years.  During lockdown, corner shops have seen a 63% increase in sales, possibly due to the overcrowding in supermarkets and as Covid cases are on the rise over winter, this could be a good thing for corner shops in Twickenham and all over London. Alexander Talver also says ‘Me and my friends have been all over Twickenham going from corner shop to corner shop. We use them more than we use the local supermarkets.’  

Hopefully the future for corner shops is not looking dim and that they will be continued to be loved by the next generations. As for supermarkets, they are going nowhere.