Portsmouth couple step down from convenience store Stop N Go after 25 years hard work - and finally put their feet up

A COUPLE who have been at the heart of their community with their convenience store have retired after 25 years.
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Rakesh and Parveen Basra have run Stop N Go in Arundel Street, Landport, since 1995.

The couple took over when their son was young as a way to earn a living while enjoying family life.

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Now, after years of hard work, the couple are looking forward to putting their feet up and relaxing, but they say they will miss their loyal customers dearly.

Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7074)Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7074)
Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth. Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7074)

Rakesh, 59, said: ‘We have been here for 25 years and we enjoyed it. It was really nice to serve the community, we have seen kids grow up and now they have kids on their own.

‘We are a community shop and our customers are like part of our family.

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‘You need a lot of energy and a lot of stamina to run a shop like this, because of our age, we can’t cope any more, it’s too much, we want to take it easy and enjoy life and see our grandchildren.’

Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Pictured is: (back) Rakesh and Parveen Basra with new owner Mohamed Mohsen.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7077)Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Pictured is: (back) Rakesh and Parveen Basra with new owner Mohamed Mohsen.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7077)
Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth. Pictured is: (back) Rakesh and Parveen Basra with new owner Mohamed Mohsen. Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7077)
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Rakesh bought the shop, inspired by his family business Sony Electric in North End.

Parveen, 55, said: ‘We will miss our customers, they were like our family.

‘We will miss the community, especially during these pandemic times, we stayed open just to serve our loyal customers.’

This year, with the disruption caused by the pandemic, has been one of their hardest yet – and they stayed open despite fears for their own safety to maintain a lifeline for their customers.

Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7054)Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7054)
Rakesh and Parveen Basra are standing down as the owners at Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth. Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7054)
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Rakesh said: ‘We were going to close, we decided that it was too risky to open but we have a lot of elderly or disabled people who were our customers who did not want to go to the supermarket and queue up for miles.

‘So they were the only reason we opened, so they could come in and buy their gas, electric or whatever they needed. A lot of people rely on gas and electric from us, so we stayed open and we were a lifeline for a lot of people.’

As the second national lockdown started, Parveen was enjoying her first day off in 25 years.

The couple have also recently moved from Cosham to Milton and are settling into their new home.

Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7088)Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth.

Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7088)
Stop 'N' Go newsagents in Arundel Street, Portsmouth. Picture: Sarah Standing (291020-7088)
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Parveen said: ‘This is my first day at home for 25 years. We never took a day off, our job there was full-time, seven days a week, it is nice to finally have some time to catch up with the housework.’

Rakesh and Parveen, who have two children Ruby, 34, and Rahul, 27, have been making sure new owner Mohamed Mohsen knows the ropes by training him.

He will continue to run the shop as normal.

Rakesh said he could not believe that time had gone so quickly.

He said: ‘Time has flown past, it doesn’t seem like 25 years. When we came here our son was only two years old, now he’s an adult, it’s incredible how quickly how time has gone.’

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Parveen added: ‘We have really enjoyed our time there. We had some lovely customers.’

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