DCHP-2
dairy corner dairy, dairy store, dairy shop, dairy mart DCHP-2 (June 2016)
Non-Canadianism
n.
a corner store that sells dairy products and groceries; a convenience store.
The term dairy or corner dairy is another term for a corner store or a convenience store. This term appears to be most frequent in New Zealand (see Chart 1). It is defined in the DNE, s.v. "dairy" (3a), as "a small, mixed-grocery store (orig. selling, then licensed to sell, milk and eggs and dairy products, and other perishables, after normal trading hours"; the earliest attestation of that meaning in the DNE is 1908. COD-2 labels dairy as a regional Cape Breton term, but we find no evidence to support this claim.
See COD-2, s.v. "dairy" (5), which is marked "Cdn (Cape Breton)".
