Friday night's double episode, written by Jonathan Harvey, saw the end of an era on Coronation Street as Rita's name was taken down from The Kabin. Rita has worked in The Kabin for 36 years. She moved in there when Len Fairclough bought the shop for £3,000 in the summer of 1973, but Rita wasn't impressed. "It's just a grotty little hole!" she told him, but was won round when the upstairs flat was thrown in as well. 
Rita wanted to call the new shop 'Rita's' but it was Len who decided on 'The Kabin'. Rita took on an assistant in the shape of Mavis Riley.Barbara Knox, who plays Rita, remembers falling in love with The Kabin set almost at first sight. "I thought it was wonderful. I loved it. I just thought, 'This is mine. This is wonderful. I feel happy in here'."
And now, after Rita in The Kabin for 36 years, nasty Norris takes over to build his little empire. It truly is the end of an era.Source: The Coronation Street Story by Daran Little.
See also: Red-haired Rita, Queen of the Kabin
