‘Porn-free’ newsagent Hamdy Shahein to retire after 36 years at the shop counter

Hamdy Shahein outside his shop in Stoke Newington. Photograph: Eleonore de Bonneval

Newsagent and local celebrity Hamdy Shahein has announced he is to retire after 36 years in business.

A prolific community activist, the proprietor of Hamdy’s News in Stoke Newington has never been far from the headlines.

Hamdy has run countless marathons for charity and given his support to local campaigns from ‘Justice for Joe’ to Stokey Local’s fight against Sainsbury’s, but he describes his greatest victory as leading a campaign to stop newsagents being forced to sell pornographic magazines.

Hamdy told the Hackney Citizen the shop will remain a porn-free newsagent when he moves on.

Reminiscing over the highs and lows of the past 36 years, Hamdy said he had fond memories of his famous run-in with Hackney Council during the Olympics in 2012.

In an effort to get into the spirit of things, Hamdy plastered his shop with balloons, banners and bunting to celebrate the one in a lifetime torch relay event passing his shop.

But overzealous trading standards officers accused Hamdy of using fake or unlicensed Olympic goods and ordered him to take them down.
In an embarrassing climbdown, Mayor Pipe apologised for the error.

“That was a laugh”, says Hamdy, “The council learnt their lesson after that.”

Jo Adams, Manager of Stoke Newington Bookshop next door to Hamdy’s News wished her neighbour “all the best” in his retirement. She said: “We feel very lucky to have had Hamdy as such a wonderful neighbour from the moment we opened our bookshop. He’s been endlessly helpful and supportive over the last 28 years.”

“We will all miss his cheery disposition and good humour on the High Street.”

When he retires, the indefatigable shopkeeper said he will focus on his charity fundraising. He already has three marathons in the pipeline.

Hamdy is often described as a ‘lynchpin’ of the community but what does ‘community’ mean to him? “It means a lot,” he says. “It’s like a family. You don’t see many newsagents here for 35 years let alone any still smiling. Well, I’m still smiling.”