Supernews

I find WH Smiths to be an absolutely maddening experience. The queues are always long and the process of buying a paper is depressing. Thank heavens, then, for Supernews. The transaction is concluded with minimal fuss — cross the threshold, pick up a newspaper, say hello to the bloke, give him the money, collect your change, leave the shop, and all in under a minute. The is particularly handy when you are only buying a newspaper in order to break a £10 note so you can jump on the 50 bus (Buses in Brum do not give change). There are also several pubs nearby, so this is a good place to get your tobacco. For a busy and annoying High Street, this place runs a smooth operation.

As is the case in many dedicated shopping areas, it’s often tough to find somewhere to pick up a sweet snack or a drink (without having to resort to extortionate coffee shop chain prices), so places like Supernews are always a welcome addition to the high street. At the risk of sounding like a complete and utter idiot, ‘super’ is certainly the right word to describe this small convenience shop. From a personal point of view, the best aspect of Supernews is the fact that they’ve got a great selection of sweets, many that can no longer be found in the majority of shops, but their prices aren’t ramped up at all (a very reasonable £1 for two chocolate bars is a testament to this) to reflect the rarity of some of their goods. They also have a fantastic selection of magazines, only really rivalled by large shops such as W. H. Smiths with large magazine sections.