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.

SUPERSAVE

Supersave
3 Kentish Town Road
London, NW1 8NH


TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Not available
TWIRL STORAGE: N/A
TWIRL PRICE: N/A
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Very clever. I'd started to suspect there was some sort of cartel responsible for making sure all the shops on this stretch of Kentish Town Road sell Twirls at exactly the same price. Capital Foods and Booty Wine both charge 59p. I thought I'd spotted a pattern. Supersave don't sell Twirls. How convenient.

CAPITAL FOODS

Capital Foods
13 Kentish Town Road
London, NW1 8NH
TWIRL AVAILABILITY: Excellent
TWIRL STORAGE: On shelf
TWIRL PRICE: 59p
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: This shop is just a couple of doors down from Booty Wine. Both shops sell Twirls for exactly the same price, 59p. It's almost like they're running a cartel.