New fresh food shop is to open in town centre

Abingdon Sports, formerly Touchwood Sports, held its closing down sale at the end of 2020 and has been empty ever since.

Now Abbey Fresh Food has bought the lease, and is expected to open its shop next week.

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It is being run by Plamena Marinova and Biser Andreev.

The couple came to the UK from Bulgaria in 2006 and worked for Millets Farm at Frilford, picking, planting and packing fruit.

They started out in the UK living in a caravan and worked at the farm centre for 10 years.

Now they are looking forward to running their own business selling fruit and veg, fresh bread, and fresh meat.

Mum of three Ms Marinova said: “It took a long time to sort out the paperwork but now everything is completed.

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“We are about to get some deliveries and hope to open by the end of next week.

“We have taken a 10-year lease and we’re looking forward to selling fresh fruit and vegetables.

“There will also be fresh meat – beef, pork and chicken – sold from a deli at the back of the shop – it’s not big enough to call it a butchers.”

Ms Marinova said fruit and veg would be sourced from local farms, including Millets, while bread will arrive from the Natural Bread Company in North Hinksey.

She added: “We will also sell nice wines and tobacco but we are mainly concentrating on fresh food.

“The shop will help people who can’t make it to the market on Monday.”

Mr Andreev added: “Hopefully some people will see us as an alternative to the supermarkets.

“I think this is good for the High Street in Abingdon and it makes a change from coffee shops and barber shops.”

According to Ms Marinova the former sports shop is a Grade II-listed building.

She added: “We don’t have an opening date confirmed yet but we are hoping to be open by February 15.”

The owners plan to hire three or four full and part-time staff to help them run the shop.

It will be open seven days a week, from 7am to 8pm.

Abbey Fresh Food is next door to the Dog Spot, a dog-friendly cafe which opened in the unit previously occupied by an air ambulance charity shop.

The cafe, where owners can get their dogs groomed while they have a coffee, opened last summer.

The air ambulance shop closed in October, 2022.

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About the author 

Andy is the Trade and Tourism reporter for the Oxford Mail and you can sign up to his newsletters for free here. 

He joined the team more than 20 years ago and he covers community news across Oxfordshire.

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