There's no mystery about why family-run, independent local shops have disappeared.
"Oh, the gossip was amazing," says Ann Stodart, who along with her husband David ran Stodart's Seven Day Store in Two Wells, a small township on South Australia's Adelaide Plains, for four years in the 1980s. "Another time I remember a lady came in and she needed a whole lot of baby stuff because she'd just been given a foster baby. We set her up, and she went to pay but David just said 'never mind, don't worry about it'."
"Lots of stories about old owners and buying lollies after school. And as the shop changed over the years, it resonated with different people's memories. It was always amusing when people would pass by thinking it was a real shop and looking for bread and milk. Sedda trained as a pilot — a long-held dream — but gave it away when he realised that what really made him happy was what he calls "the greatest Redfern convenience store on Earth".
"The only way for me to survive has been to not compete with supermarkets. Most of what I stock you won't find in a supermarket. My customers will come here after they've gone to the supermarket.
No story on lolly shops would be anywhere near complete without a big mention ok Kearys Corner in Strathfield- it had legendary status for about 70 years
Usually run by some nasty old biddy who sold single cigarettes to minors.