World News has been a beloved and established location in the Clayton community for years. In January it was announced in a Facebook post that World News would be closing after fifty-five years of business since its opening in 1967. The corner store has the largest selection of cold drinks in town, alongside aisles of sweet and savory snacks. It also has every magazine you could dream of and a special section of books dedicated to the history of St. Louis.

For as long as many Clayton residents can remember, the corner store has sat on the corner of Central and Forsyth. Now driving home from work or school, you may notice the familiar windows plastered with sale signs saying, “everything must go.” As part of their closure, the store is getting rid of not just their magazines and snacks, but their fixtures and shelves as well.

Now when you walk inside the familiar coolers of drinks are missing and the shelves are halfway bare.

The pandemic reduced the amount of traffic the store received drastically making the store less profitable than before. World News is not the only business in Clayton that has closed due to the pandemic. As a city that depends highly on the foot traffic of people going to work in offices the pandemic has been a hard hit all around.

The opening of larger shops with similar products, like the Dollar General-owned store DGX Clayton, has also led to less foot traffic as people choose the larger and flashier option over the small corner shop.

“It is sad but it will open the door for a lot of other things and we have been doing this for a long time,” said store manager Mike Flavin when asked about his emotions regarding the closure.

At the checkout line of World News you are always greeted with a nice conversation as you pay for your items. The little things make World News so great.

Camilla Meyers, a senior at Clayton High school, has many fond memories of trips to World News after hot days of cross country practice.

“I always used to go to World News with my friends after cross country practice. We would get our drinks and sit outside the store on the benches and talk. I loved those afternoons,” Meyers said.

While we watch the iconic shop close its doors for a final time this February remember to shop at local businesses so we can keep them open, especially in economically difficult times.

You will be missed, World News.