Eugene Diamond will close the doors of his newsagent shop on Broughshane Street in Ballymena for the final time on Sunday 30 August 2026, marking the end of nearly half a century behind the counter. The 68-year-old has spent 49 years watching the retail landscape transform around him, from an era dominated by cigarette and newspaper sales to one shaped by energy drinks and vapes. His retirement signals the loss of another independent business from a high street already depleted by closures.
Diamond first began paying rent on the premises on 1 August 1979 and opened the shop a week later, establishing what would become one of Ballymena's longest-running independent retailers. Throughout his tenure, he has witnessed profound shifts in consumer behaviour, technology, and the fabric of local communities. Yet despite these transformations, what he treasures most remains unchanged: the daily conversations with his customers.
I think I was born to talk and I've talked and talked and re-talked,the shopkeeper reflected.
The conversations are completely different and we get every walk of life. Sunday morning was always a big morning for newspapers and we could have had anything... there would have been business owners, the street cleaner, the plumber, the factory guys.
According to local reporting, the shop has operated daily at 5.30am, opening seven days a week and closing at 7pm. This gruelling schedule took its toll: in June 2025, Diamond announced he was stepping back from his usual hours due to ongoing health problems and put both the business and premises up for sale. As of August 2026, the shop had been unable to find a purchaser.
What made the shop special to its customers?
For decades, Diamonds was far more than a place to buy newspapers and cigarettes. It became a social hub where locals gathered to exchange news, gossip, and observations about their town. Lyle Cubitt, a retired solicitor who has visited the shop for at least 40 years, captured this sentiment perfectly.
My wife says to me, 'what are you going to do when he's gone, you'll have nobody to complain to',Cubitt said.
Local people don't come in here for papers at all, they come in for the cheek, it starts the moment you come in the door.
Another long-term customer, Carroll Falls, expressed similar feelings about what the closure represents.
You don't need to buy a paper, Eugene is the news,he observed.
When you go into a supermarket you get your beans and your beef and your papers, but the paper is more than the commodity in this shop. I'll miss it, in fact I don't know if I'll continue to buy the paper.
Diamond himself acknowledged the broader loss that his retirement symbolises.
People have told me they are really going to miss it, and as much as they are, I am. Society is losing the fabric of what made towns great, it was local shops where people communicated.
How has the retail landscape changed?
The decline of independent newsagents reflects a dramatic contraction in the sector. In 2011, there were 4,597 newsagents across the UK, but by 2023 that figure had plummeted to just 2,285—a loss of more than half in just over a decade. Diamonds' closure adds to a growing list of cherished local businesses shuttering their windows. Earlier in 2026, McKillens shoe shop in Ballymena closed after 100 years, and in February, T Baillie and Sons, a family-run butcher's shop in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, ceased trading after 137 years.
The products sold in newsagents have transformed dramatically during Diamond's tenure. Where once cigarettes dominated the shelves, they have been joined—and increasingly replaced—by energy drinks, vapes, and bottled water.
Energy drinks and vapes are big and had you told it to me 49 years ago that I'd be selling bottled water in the abundance that I sell it now? It's unbelievable,Diamond reflected.
The National Lottery, introduced in 1994, became a significant revenue stream for the business. Diamond recalled one memorable moment when a customer thought he had won £5 on a scratch card.
He thought he'd won £5, I put it through the machine and I said to him, are you sure you've got a fiver? He said 'definitely' and I said 'well you have to phone Camelot because you've won £300,000'.
What role did newspapers play in the community?
The decline of printed newspapers has been particularly significant for Diamond, who views their disappearance as a cultural loss.
There's people who have told me they learned to read in the past by having a newspaper in the home,he said.
People who would maybe have lost out if they hadn't had that physical paper in the house.
The shop witnessed major historical moments through its newspaper sales. During the Troubles, Diamond opened each morning to bundles of papers carrying what he described as
death and mayhemon their front pages.
I do honestly think the best morning I ever put a paper on sale was the morning when it said 'It's Over'.
In recent years, Diamond gained a social media following for promoting newspaper sales and sharing early morning photographs taken outside his shop.
There's just a wonderful thing about being up in the morning and being out there, all you get is the birds singing,he said. This online presence underscored how the shop had become a daily source of updates and observations for locals, extending its reach beyond those who could visit in person.
One notable occasion illustrated the shop's importance to the local media landscape. The late UTV journalist Ken Reid overheard a conversation in Diamonds that led to a news story about a new mechanised device for lowering coffins into graves—a reminder of how informal community spaces can generate journalism.
What comes next?
After nearly five decades of early starts and long days, Diamond is looking forward to a different rhythm of life.
Maybe a few holidays and I hope a good few years retirement,he said.
I'm definitely not going to be getting up early every morning.On Sunday 30 August 2026, he will pull down the shutters for the final time, ending an era that shaped the daily lives of countless Ballymena residents.
Key Facts
- Eugene Diamond opened Diamonds newsagent on 8 August 1979 after paying rent from 1 August that year, and has operated it for 49 years
- The shop has been open daily at 5.30am and closing at 7pm, seven days a week, until its final closure on 30 August 2026
- UK newsagent numbers fell from 4,597 in 2011 to 2,285 by 2023, reflecting a broader decline in independent retail
- The shop's closure follows other significant local business losses, including McKillens shoe shop (100 years) and reflects concerns about the decline of community gathering spaces
- Diamond gained a social media following in recent years for promoting newspapers and sharing early morning photographs from outside his shop
