The Avicenna Pharmacy in Abingdon has been taken over, and is now run by the new owner. He got a mention in parliament this week after Layla Moran MP visited. Layla Moran is Chair of the Health and Social Care Committee, and on 18th December 2024 she said in parliament when debating winter preparedness, ‘Last Friday, I visited Sherwood Pharmacy in Abingdon. Ben, who owns it, told me that local pharmacies stand ready to help… There needs to be a real push for GPs to refer people to pharmacies, in particular for vaccinations.’

Abingdon Town Band was playing carols outside Waitrose last night. The Town Band has been out and about far more in recent months.

This morning, donkeys from the Donkey Sanctuary were outside Waitrose. They are regular visitors to Abingdon and can often be seen at the Christmas Extravaganza. They also sometimes help out during Palm Sunday. But it’s not just Abingdon — they were in Didcot on Saturday.

The Waitrose store appears to have moved past the Christmas Tree stage and will soon transition into the Turkey collection stage.

The removal of Waitrose Unwrapped, their unpackaged section, and its replacement with the Christmas Shop, a highly packaged section, was another recent change.

The former Dorothy Perkins store at 26 Bury Street, vacant since its closure in 2018, will see new life tomorrow. On Saturday, 14th, Decembers the shutters will open to reveal a brightly lit branch of a tech specialist who repair, buy and sell mobile phones, and sell accessories. The company also have a branch in the Orchard Centre in Didcot.

It’s a difficult time for staff at Abingdon’s Homebase store, which is set to close. The closure is one of many nationwide after the company, owned by Hilco, went into administration last month. While some branches were bought by the owner of The Range, Abingdon wasn’t among them, and no buyer was found for most of the remaining stores.

There’s no official closing date yet. For now, the store is holding a closing-down sale. Notices say ‘Administration Sale’ and ‘Store Closing: Everything must Go’. It is the busiest I have seen the store since it opened in September 2021. There are far more staff than usual.

Shoppers can find some big discounts, with Christmas trees and decorations going for 50% off. Other products are 50% or 40% off.

There must be a science to applying discounts in a closing down situation. There is 10% off paints and fleeces.

It’s a sad end for the store and staff who must be facing a worrying Christmas, but at the same time, the rest of us don’t want to miss out on a good deal.