Lionel Petty

Lionel Petty owned the Corner Shop in Coronation Street for seven months between 1965 and 1966.

Biography
Lionel Petty, a former Sergeant Major in the army, arrived in Coronation Street, Weatherfield, in 1965 when he bought the Corner Shop from Florrie Lindley. His daughter had already been in the street and fallen in love with neighbour Dennis Tanner, so she suggested to Lionel that he buy the shop so she would have a reason to hang around.

Lionel quickly made his presence felt in the street as his approach to shopkeeping was totally different to Florrie's. He wasn't as personable and some customers felt intimidated by him. Lionel also opened up a sub post office in the shop, but closed it when it didn't do as much business as he had hoped.

While Lionel lived in the Corner Shop accommodation, Sandra lived in the flat above the shop and worked behind the counter, though she wasn't happy and eventually moved to another part of Weatherfield when Lionel interfered with her taking a job at Gamma Garments. Lionel continued alone at the shop for a short while and took on Sandra's ex-boyfriend Dennis, but in 1966, after less than a year in the shop, he decided to sell up and move to Wales, planning to go into business with his brother.