# Sidewalk News Venders - I hope they don't disappear

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [March 3, 2013, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904 "2013-03-03T10:02:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 10:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904/1 "2013-03-03T10:02:29Z")

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I’ve only seen these in TV shows filmed in NY. We had a few magazine shops in Little Rock but they were usually real store fronts in run down areas. I typically bought magazines from Kroger or a convenience store like 7-Eleven.

I know print media is steadily dying out. More and more magazines are switching exclusively to an online web site. Makes me a little sad because I still look forward to pulling National Geographic out of the mail box and reading it. Thankfully that magazine is still printed.

Are the sidewalk news shops an endangered species too? It’s amazing how much merchandise these venders cram into those tiny boxes. Where else besides NY are they found? I’ve seen pictures of the little boxes closed and padlocked. They open the front, get inside and start selling. Very efficient little business. Seems odd that they sell snacks and don’t seem to sell sodas?

> **[Read all about it! Photographer takes series of colorful pictures revealing...](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2287297/Read-Photographer-takes-series-colorful-pictures-revealing-newsstands-New-York.html)**
>
> Trevor Traynor has made it his mission to stop and look and capture on camera the newsstands we pass every day and hardly think about. The New York photographer has pictured stalls all across the city, pictured, and even extended his project to...

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**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904/2 "2013-03-03T14:56:54Z")

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They seem to be doing fine in Philly, as are food carts and more temporary stands where guys sell hats, gloves, sunglasses, and umbrellas.

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**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2013, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904/3 "2013-03-03T16:56:08Z")

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> [@aceplace57](#):
>
> Seems odd that they sell snacks and don’t seem to sell sodas?

They sell sodas and other bottled drinks. He just framed the photos to cut the refrigerators out of the image.

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904/4 "2013-03-04T17:10:01Z")

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> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#):
>
> They sell sodas and other bottled drinks. He just framed the photos to cut the refrigerators out of the image.

This is probably the answer. They’re going to migrate into snack/convenience item vendors. The smart ones already have.

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**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\
**Post date:** [March 4, 2013, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904/5 "2013-03-04T18:47:32Z")

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I suspect they’re endangered. The ones I used to see in Boston are gone, and newsstands like the one that used to bre in the Westi n Plaza ar gone. The Newsstand at my local mall used to fill the entire wall of a long shop. Now it’s moved, and it only has one or two racks of magazines.

They were taking about closing down Out of Town news in Harvard Square a few years ago, but it’s still running. Likewise the one across from Princeton University. But those are special cases.  
I see a lot fewer of the news stands in New York City than I used to.

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**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\
**Post date:** [March 5, 2013, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sidewalk-news-venders-i-hope-they-dont-disappear/651904/6 "2013-03-05T01:58:05Z")

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I’ve seen them a number of places (there are a couple outside Pike Place Mkt in Seattle), but thinking back, I’ve never bought a thing from them.

Okay, I’m going to buy something from the next one I see. Let’s all do that, and keep them in business.
