A Stoke-on-Trent newsagent that captured national attention after its octogenarian owner fought off a would-be thief with her walking stick is set to close after five decades in business, with the family citing changing shopping habits and a lasting decline in trade.
Turner's Newsagents, on Lichfield Street in Hanley, will serve its final customers this week, bringing to an end a 50-year chapter that began when founder June Turner opened the shop in January 1975.
Now aged 89, Turner said she would miss running the store despite the early starts that came with the job.
"We've got to go sometime, haven't we?" she said. "It's been marvellous."
The shop became widely known in 2019 after Turner, then 82 and recovering from a hip replacement, used her walking stick to fend off a homeless man attempting to steal cash from the till.
"I just hit him on his back and up his bum," she recalled. "I just smacked him. He really had it."
Her actions earned her a £250 High Sheriff's Award for bravery, while the offender was later jailed.
The family said the decision to close was driven by a sustained fall in business following the Covid-19 pandemic, from which the shop never fully recovered.
Alan Turner said the business had also been affected by the loss of the surrounding community after nearby terraced homes were demolished in 2004 as part of a regeneration project.
"All round here was full of terrace properties and it's taken 15 years before they've actually started rebuilding again and bringing the communities back," he said.
"But habits have changed during that time, and it's just one of those things."
James Turner said it would be "a bit emotional" to lower the shutters for the final time.
"On the whole it's been really good memories. We've had lots of fun and lots of laughs," he said.
Long-time customer Barry Clunn paid tribute to June Turner's dedication, describing her as "absolutely outstanding".
The closure marks another blow for traditional independent newsagents, many of which have faced mounting pressure in recent years from changing consumer behaviour, declining newspaper sales and the long-term shift towards online shopping.