Historically, a kiosk was a small garden pavilion open on some or all sides common in Persia, the Indian subcontinent, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Today, several examples of this type of kiosk still exist in and around the Topkapı Palace in Istanbul, and they can be seen in Balkan countries.
A convenience store, bodega, convenience shop, corner store or corner shop is a small retail store that stocks a range of everyday items such as tea, coffee, groceries, fruits, vegetables, snacks, confectionery, soft drinks, ice creams, tobacco products, lottery tickets, over-the-counter drugs, toiletries, newspapers and magazines. In some jurisdictions, convenience stores are licensed to sell alcoholic drinks, although many jurisdictions limit such beverages to those with relatively low alcohol content, like beer and wine. The stores may also offer money order and wire transfer services, along with the use of a fax machine or photocopier for a small per-copy cost. Some also sell tickets or recharge smart cards, e.g. OPUS cards in Montreal or include a small deli. They differ from general stores and village shops in that they are not in a rural location and are used as a convenient supplement to larger stores.
WH Smith PLC, trading as WHSmith, is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of high street, railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service station shops selling books, stationery, magazines, newspapers, entertainment products and confectionery.
A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or otherwise made. The first modern vending machines were developed in England in the early 1880s and dispensed postcards. Vending machines exist in many countries and, in more recent times, specialized vending machines that provide less common products compared to traditional vending machine items have been created.
Harvard Square is a triangular plaza at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue, Brattle Street and John F. Kennedy Street near the center of Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. The term "Harvard Square" is also used to delineate the business district and Harvard University surrounding that intersection, which is the historic center of Cambridge. Adjacent to Harvard Yard, the historic heart of Harvard University, the Square functions as a commercial center for Harvard students, as well as residents of western Cambridge, the western and northern neighborhoods and the inner suburbs of Boston. The Square is served by Harvard station, a major MBTA Red Line subway and a bus transportation hub.
A liquor store is a retail business that predominantly sells prepackaged liquors, wine or beer, usually intended to be consumed off the store's premises. Depending on region and local idiom, they may also be called an off-licence, off-sale, bottle shop, bottle store or, colloquially, bottle-o, liquor store or other similar terms. A very limited number of jurisdictions have an alcohol monopoly. In US states that are alcoholic beverage control (ABC) states, the term ABC store may be used.
The Smith's Snackfood Company is a British-Australian snack food brand owned by the American multinational food, snack, and beverage corporation PepsiCo. It is best known for its brand of potato crisps. The company was founded by Frank smith and Jim Viney in the United Kingdom in 1920 as Smiths Potato Crisps Ltd, originally packaging a twist of salt with its crisps in greaseproof paper bags which were sold around London. The dominant brand in the UK until the 1960s when Golden Wonder took over with Cheese & Onion, Smith's countered by creating Salt & Vinegar flavour which was launched nationally in 1967.
R-kioski is a chain of convenience stores that is part of the Reitan Convenience division of the Reitan Group. Reitan's Eastern Nordic and Baltic portfolio includes R-kioski in Finland, R-kiosk in Estonia and Lietuvos spauda in Lithuania. There are 560 R-kioski shops across Finland as of 2017. They sell a range of products, such as books, magazines, cigarettes and tobacco, ready meals, snacks, soft drinks and alcoholic drinks such as beer and cider. R-kioski shops also provide services such as the various "Veikkaus" lottery games, prepaid SIM cards and top-up vouchers, postal services, fishing licences, as well as the sale of public transport tickets. Selected shops are also able to sell national rail and bus transport tickets.
Mitsuwa Marketplace is a Japanese supermarket chain in America, with locations in California, Illinois, Texas, Hawaii, and New Jersey.
A tobacconist, also called a tobacco shop, a tobacconist's shop or a smoke shop, is a retailer of tobacco products in various forms and the related accoutrements, such as pipes, lighters, matches, pipe cleaners, and pipe tampers. More specialized retailers might sell ashtrays, humidification devices, hygrometers, humidors, cigar cutters, and more. Books and magazines, especially ones related to tobacco are commonly offered. Items irrelevant to tobacco such as puzzles, games, figurines, hip flasks, walking sticks, and confectionery are sometimes sold.
NewsLink Pty Ltd is an Australian company responsible for providing convenience items and travel products in airports and railway stations in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Fiji.
Audax Groep is a Dutch print media and retail company, active also in Belgium. The publishing arm publishes magazines. It also produces and prints books, calendars, and flyers for other companies and builds websites. The Audax headquarters are located in Gilze.
The Harvard Square Subway Kiosk is a historic kiosk and landmark located in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It was built in 1928 as the new main headhouse for the previously-opened Harvard Square subway station. After the station closed in 1981 for major renovations, the kiosk was moved slightly and renovated. The Out of Town News newsstand, which opened in 1955, occupied the kiosk from 1984 to 2019. As of 2019, the City of Cambridge plans to convert it for public use.
Eason Retail PLC, known as Easons or Eason, is an Irish retail company best known for selling books, stationery, cards, gifts, newspapers and magazines. Headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, it is the largest supplier of books, magazines, and newspapers in Ireland.
Gateway Newstands [sic] is a chain of convenience stores and kiosks in large office buildings, shopping centres, public places, and transit stations in the United States and Canada. Established in 1983, Vaughan, Ontario-based Tobmar Investments International Inc. is the company that runs Gateway Newstands. The stores operate as independent franchisees and sell a wide variety of convenience items from tobacco and lottery tickets; to candy, chewing gum, and non-alcoholic beverages; and newspapers and magazines. There are currently over 500 Gateway franchises in the network. In late 2020, Gateway Newstands, along with its affiliate Tobmar Investments International Inc., decided to wind-down operations at its franchise locations in the United States.
Newsagent's shop, or Newsstand, is a business that sells newspapers, magazines, cigarettes, snacks and often items of local interest.
myNEWS.com is retail convenience chain located in Malaysia. As of 2021, myNEWS.com has more than 452 outlets, the majority of them located in the urban areas of Peninsular Malaysia. myNEWs outlets can be commonly found in shopping complexes, business hubs, transportation hubs and rail transport hubs, such as LRT and MRT stations. It currently serves over 2.5 million customers monthly and has more than 1600 employees.
Quality Dairy Company is a family-owned dairy, bakery, and retail/convenience store chain in the Lansing, Michigan metro area. The first Quality Dairy Store opened in 1936 and as of 2023 there are 26 retail locations in the Mid-Michigan area. Quality Dairy Company's headquarters is located near REO Town in Lansing and operates its Dairy Plant and Bakery Plant from central Lansing as well.
Spätverkauf, Spätkauf or "Späti" is a type of convenience shop found generally in East German cities, such as Berlin, Dresden or Leipzig, which is known to operate late at night past the usual shopping hours, often 24 hours per day.
