Because merchandise was kept on shelves behind the counters, in bins, and barrels, everyone received individual attention each item was individually selected and wrapped. The story of the corner store is one of hard work, long hours, and personal sacrifice often, it is the immigrant's story. It was an arrangement that gave a sense of both security and independence. Children could be watched and the store could be minded at the same time, which meant that women were ever-present in the stores. Operating a corner store was an acceptable and feasible livelihood for women because they were small scale businesses, located in outlying neighborhoods beyond the city's central business district, the entrepreneurial province of men.
Corner stores tend to be simple, practical structures.
Function, familiarity, and frugality outweigh the importance of architectural style and take precedence over pretentious display a low priority for those who built corner stores as rental property. Streetside facades are flush with the sidewalk line, punctuating their corner position. Suspended awnings or extended sheds, the latter sometimes reaching to the curbline, signal commercial activity, as do signs and storefront windows. Public entrances frequently take the form of a single opening on a chamfered or cutaway corner, a subtle gesture to draw people into the building. The floor plans of corner stores also show similarities.