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p6
 Hamdy Shahein has run the newsagents
and travel business at 167 Stoke Newington High Street for the past 16 years. Born in
Alexandria, Egypt, he was a useful soccer goalkeeper in his youth and is a black belt judo
expert. Despite his quiet manner, he is not a man to be taken lightly. WH Smith, the
retail and distribution giant, discovered this when they insisted on delivering soft porn
magazines to the busy shop. Mr Shahein objected, saying that the store was used by many
women and children and he didn't wish to sell material that might offend any of his
customers.
Despite his protests, they kept sending the top-shelf titles under a system known as
'box-out', under which a pre-packed selection, chosen by the distributor, was sent to
20,000 independent newsagents. Some of these included titles such as Best of Big and
Fat, Best of Black and Blue, and Shaven Girls Electric Blue.
One magazine called Lipstick, devoted to oral sex, was also delivered, although
Smiths claimed that this was a mistake as they believed it to be a publication about
cosmetics. Hamdy collected 1500 unwanted magazines that he refused to sell.
Extremely angry, he started to organise amongst his fellow newsagents on the principle, as
he says, 'we were looking for total freedom of choice so that if a retailer didn't want to
stock these magazines, he didn't have to.' He says tha fact that he is a Muslim played
only a very small part in his decision to launch the campaign. It was more to do with what
he believed to be the degrading effect of the magazines on both the shops and vulnerable
customers. Over 80 per cent of small newsagents in Britain are run by Asian families.
He had soon organised 500 other shops into a 'porn-free' network. The campaign received
national publicity and Hamdy frequently, although reluctantly, appeared in the national
media, including radio and television. In 1996-7, the campaign achieved its aim. WH Smith
gave in and allowed retailers to be able to 'opt in' to the magazines rather than have
them delivered compulsorily. Also, none of the WH Smith 450 major high street stores now
stock the titles and they are sold only in their railway and airport shops.
We put it to Hamdy that Penthouse, Mayfair and the rest were not the
only publications that showed nude women what about the Sun and the Daily
Sport? Did he sell those? Yes, he sells the Sun, about which he is not
entirely happy, but it is less visible than the top-shelf glossies with their bare-all
covers. No, he refuses to stock the Daily Sport which he says is much more
offensive with its crude nudity and sex adverts.
A cynic might say that the campaign was pretty good publicity for his shop. Was their any
truth in that? Hamdy argues convincingly that whilst sales rose 20 per cent when he became
porn free, this was due to support from the public who approved of his stand rather than
the effect of any publicity stunt. In any case, he is a fairly reserved sort of person who
did not feel at ease in the media spotlight.
His principles also extend to worrying about young people and drug-taking in Stoke
Newington. He insists that the shop will not sell cigarettes to under-age kids.
Hamdy has run three marathons in aid of charity two London Marathons and one in Abingdon
and has competed in 22 races in the past two years. Somehow he also finds time to run the
businesses. He is proud of the travel agency Egyland (Egypt/England) with its 'most
comprehensive stock of holiday brochures in the UK' and says that the newsagent probably
has the widest selection of greetings cards in north London.
We are pleased to report that Hamdy has no problem with this magazine, which he displays
prominently on his shelves.
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