The shops shown here, whilst commonplace in the 1980s, are now virtually extinct in London due to the proliferation of very large supermarkets.

Within a very small radius of Welling there is a large Asda store at Bexleyheath, Sainsbury's in Bexleyheath and Eltham; Morrisons in Erith (and now Blackfen, having bought out Safeway Stores) and Tesco in Sidcup, as well as smaller stores even closer.