Gosport newsagents Queens Parade News celebrates 20th anniversary as owner thanks local community for support
The owner of a Gosport newsagents has celebrated 20 years in business – and reflected on the importance of her shop to the local community.
Jo Durham has run Queens Parade News in Privett Road, Gosport for the past two decades and credits “a real sense of community” for its enduring success in a changing world. The milestone – on Friday, January 5 – was marked with a “pastry and prosecco party” in the shop, attended by locals.
Jo told The News: “I’m very glad to still be here because there has been quite a dramatic change in the industry - and in people’s attitudes as well - but I am very lucky here to have people who love the shop, love their newspapers and like the community feel that we have here.
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"I have a great core customer base. I am luckily not driven by money - which is probably just as well - and it is actually people that are important to me. They seem to quite like the way we all gel together, we have a lot of charity events - it’s that old school corner shop approach.
She added that newsagents can be a lifeline for older or isolated people, adding that “sometimes when they come in here it is their only contact with people.” Jo also expressed that there are still those who prefer to “feel the ink” of physical newspapers despite the widespread move to digital editions.
She added: “What remains is that people still love that old fashioned customer service and a bit of a chat.”