Monday 1 September 2014

The corner shop or is it?





The corner shop used to be a very common sight with its shelves filled with everyday items. Not a huge choice but convenient for the essentials. Nowadays they are rarely seen as they are unable to compete with the large supermarkets.


 I came across this one in the East End of London yesterday. It was its last day of trading and people were queuing to get inside.














But this was no ordinary corner shop, as everything on the shelves has been handmade from felt by the artist Lucy Sparrow, including the till, pricing gun and the contents of the freezer.







 The shop has not only been open for viewing everyday during August, but has also been used for sewing workshops for the community, especially those with special needs.








All the items in the shop were for sale but had to remain on the shelves until the end of the exhibition.


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32 comments:

  1. That is so cool! I would love to have a chance to buy a can of soup from this place. Thanks for showing it to me. What fun! :-)

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  2. That is so cool. Well done on her.

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  3. In felt ?? Unbelievable all articles look so true !

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  4. Corner shops are very friendly to customers . I love it but supermarkets are more fashionable now. What a pity.

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  5. That is Just. Amazing.
    I can't imagine the work that went into the creation of each of those items on the shelf.

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  6. That is brilliant! How original and so much work lovingly made. I used to love our little corner shop when I lived in Ilford. They never let us down and they used to amaze me that so much relevant goods could be sold in such a small space.

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  7. Great photos.Very interesting handiwork and such attention to detail !

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  8. That is wild - a very unusual and awesome art exhibit.

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  9. How creative and wonderful shots that you took ~ Walk down 'memory lane'~ Great post for OWT!

    artmusedog and carol (A Creative Harbor)

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  10. Our 'corner shops' are called Convenient Stores --and we have bunches of them around our country... The main one used to be 7-11 ---but there are lots more now. One of the most common places to see them now are in big gas stations. There are some big ones (Love's or Pilot) --where truckers (in addition to travelers) stop for all kinds to things... They even offer showers for those who are traveling long distances--especially the truckers (who sleep in their trucks)....

    Hugs,
    Betsy

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  11. You had me fooled for a second or two. Good thing I didn't break open a can of Coke. We still have a corner shop - sshh.

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  12. I miss that kind of shops. There is noone left where I live. :( Thanks for sharing.

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  13. We don't have many left anymore. There are a couple where I live...but I am afraid the shopping centre is closer walking distance. Their shelves make great colourful shots.

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  14. ps. just looked at your "to do" list. I too have a must transfer Nepal slides ... I did make a start too...at least a year ago. You have inspired me to get back to it!

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  15. We have a similar situation where I live. The few corner shops that remain tend to be pricey and go for a different market because as you said they can't compete with supermarkets.

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  16. Oh, SO interesting to know about the corner shop in your country:-)  Great Amazing Job with felt♡♡♡ I miss the corner shop we had when young.

    Sending Lots of Love and Hugs from Japan, xoxo Miyako*

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  17. You are so right about these corner shops. I too noticed their disappearance in my area.
    I like the corner shops you shared, nice concept.

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  18. Wow - what an amazing shop!

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  19. What a beautiful homage to the wonderful corner shops where as a child one would get a sweet and were addressed by name. Hope you did a lot of shopping?

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  20. Corner shops have more or less been replaced by large chain stores and supermarkets. But gee they are good to have around, wish we had one here.

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  21. Wow!! That is so cool, I completely didn't realize until you got the closer shots. Amazing!!

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  22. This is amazing, I hadn't seen it is all made from felt when you hadn't mentioned it!

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  23. Delightful! I wonder how many hours went into that!

    Cheers - Stewart M - Melbourne

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  24. Nice to see you again!
    Thank you for visiting and your sweet comment.
    Here in Japan, local markets have been absorbed in larger markets. On the other hand, corner shop" we call it convenience store" is everywhere.Very convenient! We use them for quick shopping to buy things. Japan’s convenience stores have all kind of things we need in every day life.Also it’s easy to book and receive any tickets, also there is 24 hour ATM inside. Yes, bank is inside. They bravely compete with big supermarket.
    Have a good week!

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  25. I'm always interested to see the way products are branded differently on either side of the ocean. Heinz makes lots of different soups, but I've never seen Big Soup before.
    Please share your post by linking up at http://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2014/09/shell-game-linky.html

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  26. Wow. That is unbelievable. I'm always amazed by the places art can take us.

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  27. How totally amazing - I had to look carefully as some of it seemed so real.

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  28. Wow - that is really cool! Someone was very creative.

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  29. A wonderful concept and so very sad to see it go.

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  30. What an amazing lady. She must have so much patience to make so many detailed fiddly bits and pieces. I'm glad that it's been a success and that the space has been used to fire the creativity of others thought sewing classes and workshops. Everything's better when people have a creative outlet. Great post. Thanks for sharing it, Bonny

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  31. Everything looked so realistic--it is hard to believe it was made from felt and fabric!

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  32. Fascinating! I had to look several times at some of those because it was so hard to believe.

    (I just caught up on posts I've missed while traveling; thank goodness for Feedly Enjoyed them all. )

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