How trading reforms are killing the corner shop

They are among the last bastion of a cherished neighbourhood institution - corner shop owners pitting a time-honoured combination of courtesy and convenience against big business.

Corner shops used to be bustling with adults buying last-minute groceries or children handing over a few coins in exchange for enough lollies to sink a ship.

But the corner shop's reign as the heart of the neighbourhood ended decades ago and the resistance is fading fast.

Vietnamese immigrant Tran Son, 63, has run the Berwick Street Deli in Victoria Park for the past 17 years.

He had his work cut out with the proliferation of supermarket and service station chains, but deregulated trading hours has all but put the nail in the coffin.

Mr Son plans to sell the property in two years and he doesn't expect the deli to survive.

"I think someone will buy the land and do something different with it," he said. "I enjoyed the first 10 years here even though it was starting to slow down, but the last three years have been terrible.

Mai and Trong Nguyen, who have run the Central Avenue Deli in Inglewood for 22 years. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian

"We tried doing more hot food, we tried selling flowers, but it's no good because the big supermarkets are always open."

The differences between Mr Son's deli and the big supermarkets go beyond price and product range.

He knows what most of his regular customers want - right down to the brand of cigarettes - and many of them stay for a chat.

Rick Green, 36, has a lifelong connection to the Floreat Minimart and takes customer service a step further.

If his elderly patrons are wary of walking through the intersection of Cambridge and Birkdale streets, he walks with them.

If they cannot leave their house, he delivers their orders and posts their mail.

Rick Green outside the Floreat Minimart he has owned and run for 15 years. Picture: Nic Ellis/The West Australian

After growing up near the store and working there as a teenager, Mr Green bought a stake in the business in 2001, which he gradually increased to 100 per cent.

He diversified by adding a lotteries section 18 months ago, but his journey as an owner is almost over.

"I've been working 100-hour weeks for the last five years and you can't do that for ever," he said.

"We had the trading hours referendum and that was a good result, but what a waste of time and money that turned out to be."

About 7km east in Inglewood, Mai, 59, and Trong Nguyen, 60, have put their corner store on the market.

They have lived and worked at the Central Avenue Deli for the past 21 years after fleeing Vietnam and arriving in Australia in 1981.

Their location, loyal customer base and tireless work ethic have kept them afloat but each time trading hours are extended it puts another dent in their profits.

Early risers...Steve and Ruby Dew outside their Neighbourhood Deli in Charles Street, Bunbury. They open at 6am. Nic Ellis/The West Australian

"Up until four years ago it was still going very well but it's not like it was before," Mrs Nguyen said. "If I owned this place outright, I would knock down the wall and sell coffee, cake - everything."

One couple bucking the trend are Steve and Ruby Dew, who moved to Bunbury late last year to run the Neighbourhood Deli on Charles Street.

They jumped at the chance to buy the store when they saw it advertised on Gumtree, two years after Mr Dew, 44, had a stroke, which stopped him driving trucks.

The deli has been there since 1912 and when the Dews took over, they quickly realised how far removed it was from its glory days.

Only by upping their fresh food output and targeting the port city's Filipino community have they managed to turn a profit.

"If this was just a straight-out deli, it wouldn't work," Mr Dew said.

Tran Son, 63, at the front of his Berwick Street Deli. Nic Ellis/The West Australian