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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Emma Beddington

The closure of my childhood Sainsbury’s has tipped me over the edge

A branch of Sainsbury's in 1984.
‘It was witness to our evolving tastes …’ A branch of Sainsbury's in 1984. Photograph: Reg Lancaster/Getty Images

I actually gasp when I read the news. “Sainsbury’s is closing down!” I tell my husband, waving my phone in his face. “Which Sainsbury’s?” he asks, as if any other counts. “The Sainsbury’s, in town. I can’t believe it.” He looks bemused at my reaction. Why do I care? It’s not our big-shop shop, just the place I pick up odd bits. There’s another, cavernous Sainsbury’s nearer us, but this one is special.

“Sainsbos is closing?!?” I WhatsApp my sister, who will know I mean the one true Sainsbos: Foss Bank, our childhood local. “What will we do?” It’s strange, but good, that we are both back in York after spending most of our adult lives in other countries: we will need each other’s emotional support to cope with this cataclysm.

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