*NEW YORK SPECIAL* ECONOMY CANDY

Economy Candy
108 Rivington Street
New York, NY 10002

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: $1.49
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: A fantastic little shop selling all kinds of candy and sweets and chocolate and god knows what else. Long queues as it's such a popular store. The woman in front of me complained to her friend that she wasn't feeling well, although I don't think this was anything to do with the shop itself.

*NEW YORK SPECIAL* CARRY ON TEA & SYMPATHY

Carry On Tea & Sympathy
108 Greenwich Avenue
New York, NY 10011

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: $1.75
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This small store is next to a small cafe/restaurant which sells traditional English food. The store itself is in the style of those old fashioned grocery stores which probably don't actually exist in England any more.



Quite expensive ($1.75 is about £1.15, which is the most I have ever spent on a Twirl) although it is the first time I have ever bought a Twirl overseas, so that's quite exciting.

WHSMITH

WHSmith
Terminal 4,
Heathrow Airport, TW6 3XA

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 70p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Twirl information and photo supplied by @gillpea.

I recently went to Terminal 3 at Heathrow and checked the WHSmith there. They still have the "2 for 99p" offer, but a single bar is 55p:



They also sell giant boxes containing 48 bars:



As I was going to be out of the country for a couple of days, with no guarantee of Twirl availibility in New York, I bought two boxes.

ANIKA NEWS

Anika News
5 The Broadway, Friern Barnet Road
London, N11 3DT

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 59p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Normally, I have to look up the address details for shops when I'm writing up a report. Anika News kindly list their full address (including post code and telephone number) on their signage. They also sell a very impressive range of pornography:

KC PATEL

KC Patel
72 Parish Lane
Penge, SE20 7JP

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 60p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: The woman was on the phone the whole time during my transaction. I'm not sure who she was talking to, I didn't like to ask.

ROSE MINI MARKET

Rose Mini Market
The Broadway
Friern Barnet Road, Bowes Park
London, N11 3DT

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 55p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: It was very warm in the shop (it was a warm day generally). The on shelf Twirls were suffering badly in the heat and so instead, I bought a can of R Whites lemonade (50p). It was cold and refreshing.

COSTCUTTER

Costcutter
24-26 Eden Street,
Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1AA

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 60p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: As you can see from the address, which stretches all the way from 24 to 26 Eden Street, this is a large store and was very well stocked. Air conditioned too.

NEWSMART

Newsmart
15 Apple Market
Kingston Upon Thames, KT1 1JE

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 59p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: A man, possibly a member of the homeless community, went into the shop as I was taking this photo. He had a big dog with him. I tried to take a photo of the dog, but at the same time, I didn't want him to know I was taking a photo of the dog. As a result, I failed to take a photo of the dog.

UNTITLED

Untitled
Opposite platforms 9 and 10,
Clapham Junction station
St. Johns Hill
London, SW11 1SP

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 85p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: If this was an airport, this unnamed newsagents would be considered "airside". This shop is in the tunnel linking all the platforms, so you would already have passed through the ticket barriers at this stage. If you decide you want a Twirl, you have no choice but to pay the absurd 85p price. Aggressive abuse of position. This sort of thing sickens me. They are obviously so ashamed, they didn't even have the guts to give the shop a name.

GOOD NEWS

Good News
Clapham Junction station
St. Johns Hill
London, SW11 1SP

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 60p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Chocolate bars are out of reach in this crowded kiosk, but considering its location inside a busy train station, a reasonable price. Especially when you consider what happens just fifty yards away on the other side of the ticket barriers.

TOLGA SUPERMARKET

Tolga Supermarket
80 Amhurst Road
London, E8 1JH

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 50p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Perhaps their supplier let them down and they were forced into this course of action out of desperation. I would rather give them the benefit of the doubt and assume it was the result of some kind of mix-up than suggest any kind of deliberate sinister plot. But still, it says quite clearly on the back of the bar:



MULTIPACK BAR - NOT FOR RESALE

And while 50p may seem like an excellent price, the multipack bar is smaller than a standard bar:



In fact, the multipack bar is 35g compared with the 43g standard bar. Pro-rating the price, therefore, we come to around 61p. Still cheap, but I'm not impressed.

STOP & SHOP

Stop & Shop
BBC White City, 201 Wood Lane
London, W12 7TS

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 50p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: I went to the BBC yesterday to give a presentation about DVD newspaper covermounts to some people I used to work with (it wasn't a very good presentation, unlikely to be translated into Russian). Popped into Stop & Shop on the way, very impressed by the price - only 50p! How much of that is subsidised by MY LICENCE FEE, I wonder.

WEST END METRO

West End Metro
38 Great Windmill Street,
London, W1D 7LU

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 70p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: A small shop in the West End, but well stocked. Bit pricey, but perhaps to be expected considering location. Also do dry cleaning, apparently, which came as a bit of a surprise:



I certainly didn't expect it to be a legal matter.

SWEET EXPRESS

Sweet Express
Bank Station, Cornhill
London EC3V 3LA

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 70p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Above average price, but not surprising considering the lack of competition in this station. Anyone wanting to buy a Twirl in Bank Station has no choice other than to buy one from here and this guy is abusing his monopoly.

WEST 9 FOOD & WINE

West 9 Food & Wine
81 Gipsy Hill
London, SE19 1QL.

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 55p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Despite being located firmly in SE19, the owners of this shop, in a somewhat surreal move, have decided to name it after the postcode area W9. I imagine this is like when you see those nail bars in Dalston called "Hollywood Hair & Nails". They're trying to associate themselves with somewhere glamourous, like Hollywood or Harrow Road. And it is a pretty glamourous area. One time I saw a couple outside the Prince Of Wales pub on Harrow Road. They shouted at each other, then she slapped him, then he slapped her, then they snogged and then they went and got pizza.

Also, "West 9 Food & Wine" rhymes, which is always a sign that you're dealing with somewhere classy.

THRIVE NEWS

Thrive News
Unit P4, Westfield
London, W12 7GF

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 65p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Thrive News is part of the CNG Family of Companies, which "dates back to 1971 when Mr. & Mrs. Charles Patel opened their first CTN (Confectionery, Tobacco & Newspaper) store, Capital Newsagents, in Paddington, Central London. The shop carried a broad range of products at competitive prices and was open 7 days a week."

This particular store has a "compact layout to provide a premium impulse shopping environment". What this actually means is that it looks a bit like a shop in a petrol station. Reasonable price, I suppose.

This was my final Twirl spot of 2009!

FABELS

Fabels
67 Chiltern Street
London, W1U 6NJ

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 65p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Despite being directly opposite AD Food and despite the road sign (top left), this shop appears to have an address on Chiltern Street rather than Paddington. I've never really understood how addresses for corner properties work.

AD FOOD

AD Food
29 Paddington Street
London, W1U 4HA

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 65p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This shop is directly opposite Fabels. It was incredible. I stood on the traffic island, took one picture, turned 180° and took the next one. Not surprisingly, both shops sold at the same price, a reasonable 65p.

SWEET EXPRESS

Sweet Express
33 Greek Street,
London, W1D 5DJ

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 70p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: The man was outside enjoying a delicious, refreshing cigarette when we visited. He promptly stubbed the fag out in the street and came inside. 70p is quite expensive, but the location is very central, and high prices are to be expected. Sorry about the blurry picture. Twirl spotting should only really be attempted during the hours of daylight. A lesson learned. Who is that figure in the doorway?

NIKIT NEWS & OFF LICENCE

Nikit News
8 Inverness Street
London, NW1 7HJ

TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 60p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: The name of this shop is possibly a bit unwise. Please don't consider it an invitation. The sign outside advises of a "Meal Deal", where for £2.40 you can buy any chocolate bar, crisps and a Relentless energy drink. I'm not sure if this actually counts as a meal.



I don't care if you have unwrapped the chocolate bar and placed it next to a pile of crisps, it's still not a meal.