Convenient Greek kiosks ate every street corner are soon to be a thing of the past. The handy shops sell newspaper, cigarettes, drinks, batteries, and other small goods round the clock, but now these traditionally Greek constructions are being scrapped by the new omnibus bill.

Unique to Greece, an estimated 12,000 kiosks currently dot the country offering convenience to the smoker who runs out of cigarettes or the chocaholic hankering for a midnight treat.

The multi-bill states that kiosks will slowly close down as their owners died with their licenses no longer being renewed or transfered.

The new regulations put an end to the tradition that first began in 1911, with the first one on Panepistimiou Street before they caught on. Kiosk owners knew all the neighborhood gossip and their little constructions with the news headlines pinned up drew crowds. Back in the days when people didn’t have telephones, callers would dial their friends, business acquaintances and loved ones from these shops.

Unfortunately, kiosks first began to feel the pinch with the recession as people stopped hankering for headlines and began to search for the news online rather than rush for the body of newspapers that the kiosk man would serve up with a smile.