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West End Extra - by SIMON BIRRITTERI
Published: 9 November 2007
 
Helen, with Ray, left, and Vic are calling it a day. Left friends and wellwishers at the big send-off
Helen, with Ray, left, and Vic are calling it a day. Left friends and wellwishers at the big send-off
News of Soho will never be the same…

The true end of an era as friends bid farewell to The Hobbit

THE Hobbit news­agent in Wardour Street has shut up shop after 35 years in the heart of Soho.
Yesterday (Thursday) was a sad day for the owners.
Ray Grant and his wife Helen, the couple who have worked in Soho all their lives, gathered with friends for a farewell toast.
Mr Grant – who has sold newspapers, magazines, sweets and cigarettes to Laurence Olivier, Helen Mirren and Paul McCartney – suffered a stroke last year and has decided to call it a day.
The couple are going along with colleague Vic Fielder who is also retiring after decades of loyal service.
A friend of the family described them as “the last bastions of Soho”.
The event attracted a large turnout of people, with friends and family joking and laughing as they reflected on the remarkable achievement.
David Bieda, a member of the Soho Society, described the shop as a “local landmark” and Raymond Boyle, who works in Soho, said: “It was the only newsagent I know of where you could go in, stand and talk with each and every customer, have a laugh and a joke, get the local gossip and all the big news, then leave without spending a penny.”
The Hobbit gets its name from the epic Lord of the Rings trilogy and the spirit of the shop harks back to Tolkien’s shire.
Ray has a collection of signed books by some of the most famous film stars.
Surrounded by friends and family, Helen ex­pressed the sadness of someone who had to part with something they have known for a long time, saying: “We’re sad to retire after 35 years because we had so many friends here.”
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