Can a phrase be the subject of a sentence?

Subjects must be nouns: people/places/things. "Just around the corner" is a modifier describing where something is.

"fantastic bakery and a small supermarket" could be the object of a sentence, but not this sentence (e.g. "She opened a fantastic bakery and a small supermarket just around the corner.")

Passive voice is when something is *done* to the subject (but notice here, the verb isn't a 'doing' verb but a 'being' verb).

The ball *was kicked* into the net. The cake *was baked* in the oven. (Passive voice uses 'to be' verbs, but has help from the --ed word (officially called a past participle); the whole construction makes the verb passive).

But "is" or "are," on their own, can't be passive voice--they are just 'to be' verbs.

The tricky thing about this sentence is that it's structure is reversed--the subjects come after the verb. This is unusual, but permissible, and definitely shows up on harder GMAT problems.

"Into the store walked a man with a suspicious look on his face."

"Out in the harbor stands one of the most famous statues in the world."

"Near the theatre district is my favorite restaurant in the city."

"With a powerful swing did the batter hit the ball."

Notice these sentences start with description.

Generally, a subject comes before the verb.

However, the sentence under consideration is (what's called) an inverted sentence, wherein the subject comes after the verb.

The trick to solving this, is to come up a normal non-inverted sentence:

A fantastic bakery and a small supermarket is/are just around the corner.

Now, it is easy to identify that "A fantastic bakery and a small supermarket" is the compound subject and hence, the correct verb is are.

p.s. Our book EducationAisle Sentence Correction Nirvana discusses inverted sentences. Have attached the corresponding section of the book, for your reference.

Just around the corner is/ are a fantastic bakery and a small supermarket.

The correct answer is are because of the compound subject "a fantastic bakery and a small supermarket". Can someone help me understand why "Just around the corner" cannot be the singular subject of this sentence? Also why can't a fantastic bakery and a small supermarket be the object and this sentence be in passive voice?

One way to check this is by changing what comes after.

Just around the corner (is/are) a cow.
Just around the corner (is/are) cows.

How to get a V40 or higher on the GMAT? What about a V51?