One Stop

Keep On With The Force, Don’t Stop
One Stop ‘Til You Get Enough.
That’s the wonderful Michael Jackson punning tagline of Withington’s finest convenience store, One Stop. Actually it isn’t, I made it up.
One Stop looks like Spar, or Premier, and low and behold, it is like Spar or Premier.
Surprisingly, the main bargain available at One Stop is the alcohol. Bottles of Carlsberg are something silly like 70p, and there are also deals on nicer alcohol.
They also have a wide range of football stickers and pokemon cards or whatever kids are into these days, so if that’s your thing, then head down.
Specializing in chocolate bars for three times their value, stale bread and expensive toilet roll, in the main One Stop makes its way in the world because there isn’t anywhere else nearby to acquire these goods once the Co-​Op closes at 6pm. Even if there is a £3 premium on having a poo, you’re just going to pay it aren’t you. That’s the bottom line. No pun intended.
Wait, this is the bottom line. No pun intended.

In my Withington days, a visit to One Stop was a rare thing, fraught ith much disappointment. «They only have frozen mince, and NO potatoes!» hissed the boyf once, when I’d sent him out to get ingredients for hungover shepherds’ pie, and all the other shops were closed. Y’see, that’s the only time anyone’s likely to go to One Stop, when Somerfield and the butchers and the fruit and veg shop are allll closed. Because their name is a lie. Yes, it’s a one-​stop-​shop for all things cheap-​boozy, but in all other areas it fails miserably.
A word, then, about the booze. It is OK. They often have decent deals on booze, one of which is a nice wine, Ogio, which is around £9, but One Stop occasionally sell it for £4. It’s not exactly exclusive, as you can get it in other shops, but I’ve never known anywhere put it on offer as much as One Stop. The big cardboard boxes of beer (crate? case?) are also usually on offer for around £8. Good for BBQs or, y’know, stocking up the fridge.
While the food section is appalling, the household essentials section is just that, essential. Bog roll, washing up liquid, cat litter. It’s usually well-​stocked and all quite reasonable value.
In short, One Stop is a no-​no unless you’re desperate, but then, I guess, it is a bit of a saviour. Just make sure if you want to make a hungover shepherds’ pie, to buy the ingredients the day before…

One Stop is located in the main bit of Withington, near the nice cafés like Fuel and the banks.
There’s not really anything that remarkable or even unremarkable about this place, its got all of your basic sweets, crisps and basic groceries. There are a few greetings cards which is useful.
What is very not useful in One Stop is how the newspapers and magazines are at entirely different end of the shop. I didn’t like this, One Stop, and it made finding my Guardian hard. I panicked suddenly, and thought «Oh! Do they only sell Mizz and Heat and stuff but not the Guardian?» But then it was ok, and I realised that the papers were back near the door.
Then I tried to pay for my paper and the nice girl behind the counter was having a nightmare restocking the scratch cards which were falling about all over the place, meaning that it took ages to get served.
All of this for a Guardian.