AJ & B Dudden

This is a great traditional old fashioned News Agents in the center of Roath. They stock all the usual newpapers and magazines you would expect but also a great variety you wouldn’t. They cover such a broad range of subject titles that I much prefer popping in here than at TESCO as the selection is far better. They are convenient to where I live in Roath so have been using them for around 6 years now and always find them friendly and helpful, plus they are open long hours so are convenient for before and often after work.
They also sell last minute seasonal items if you need them and have a few post office facilities.
They’re as good as a newsagents can get really.

This is what I like to see. A good old newsagent’s with so much variety it isn’t dominated by those awful celebrity magazines. You don’t know how refreshing that feels.
Whenever I enter here I always wonder how the collection of titles got to be so big. Yes, I understand that every newsagent contemplates getting a tattoo magazine at one point. Of course, if this sells well then you know you’re onto a winner. But when do you decide to branch out onto a second… or third… or…
However these decisions are made, Dudden have made them in style. No matter how underground or geeky your hobby is, they will probably have the perfect title for you.
In addition to this, the staff seem well informed about the publications they offer and you get the impression they would certainly look into ordering in new ones if you requested it. Perhaps that is why there are so many tattoo magazines.
URBAN CHALLENGE: Buy an obscure specialist magazine just because you can

Even though nobody really knows this place as AJ & B Dudden (it’s only mentioned in tiny letters on the shop front next to the word ‘NEWSAGENT’ in bleeding massive font) you would be well advised to get to know about it as a newsagent. Plentiful racks stocked full of a great variety of magazines, plus the usual array of daily tabloids and broadsheets, plus snacks, drinks and ice cream, it’s the kookier products that make this shop interesting. It’s particularly good if you’re a parent to primary school kids but fresh out of inspiration on how to entertain them without resorting to forking out for a PlayStation 3. For the younger ones, Mr Men books. For inquisitive children, how about an I-​Spy book? Maybe. And those random periodical publications always advertised on TV, where you get the first issue complete with a collectable item for a discount price, then buy another 159 editions over the coming weeks? They’re here too. And as this newsagent has been tootling along quite nicely for a good spell now, the subtle differences must be helping them survive on some level.

Newsagents are practically a charity nowadays. They are tiny, independent purveyors of an out-​dated media and fatty, unpopular snack foods. In this world, they’re assaulted on all sides by the capitalistic fat cats looking to buy out their business from beneath them, from the internet which is busy destroying the old media that is a crucial part of their revenue and from the health nuts who are insisting everything needs to be made from granola, raisins and yogurt or it’s considered poison.
In this light, it’s nice to see newsagents that have managed to survive the supermarket and WH Smith-​led purge of their ilk, and even managed to thrive in such a vicious atmosphere. AJ & B Dudden is one of the latter stores. They have successfully branched out into becoming something of a small bookstore, catering to a crowd interested in stories of local colour. As a result, they have a flow of patrons unique to them; people who frequent their business because it is their own private little bookstore. That makes me a little bit proud. Everyone likes an underdog.

A J & B Dudden Newsagent are somewhat of a rarity these days. They are an independent newsagent that haven’t sold out to the Life Style Group or some other such chain. Good! This means that they can carry the stock that they want, and decide how things are going to look, and essentially do things their own preferred way, making A J & B Dudden Newsagent unique as a consequence! Unique and quirky I should say! They carry items that you wouldn’t automatically expect a newsagent to stock, such as board games and books, (mainly Welsh in theme, such as guide books etc.), to compliment the national and full range of regional press and their good selection of magazines (which again reflects their desire to stock titles that you can rarely find elsewhere, unless you go to a large WH Smiths or a chain of similar stature). This of course, means that they can look after their dedicated loyal locals who consistently patronise the shop, allowing them to buy in items that have been requested.
This shop is run by a lovely family who never consider anything too much trouble. Being small, they can’t arrange the same level of bulk buying discounts that the larger chains are able to negotiate, and so their prices are a little more expensive. But I hope that this doesn’t put too many people off using them. We run the risk of losing our independent corner shops, with their individual identity and their lovely quirkiness. We need to carry on shopping there and at other shops just like it if we are going to see them survive.

This is another newsagents like Here’s News, further up Albany Road, in the sense that it offers more than the newsagents that I am used to. Rather than just a chocolate bar and a magazine, like I remember, you can instead pick up a little book! How odd. However, I kind of like it. Not that there were any books I really wanted and the fact that it is primarily a newsagent means you don’t get a good selection. Then again you still get everything you could possibly want, and get served by a lovely person. What else is really negative about it? I’m trying really hard to think about something! I would say it’s prices aren’t great. But that’s good too! Damn you, A J & B Dudden!