Coxeter House has been undergoing a transformation this year. It began with the Kitchen showroom at the start of the year.

The area behind has been closed since June but has started to re-open in phases.

An art gallery and picture framing area is now open, together with an area with shaped furniture to which customers can request their own fabrics.

The intention is to have kitchens at the front, bathroom and bedroom design behind, flooring, tiles, lighting, furniture, soft furnishings, accessories and the art gallery. So you may go in to design the kitchen but then get ideas for the rest of the house. The development will be completed by Easter 2015.

The rest of the Coxeters businesses, in this department store: Centre Stage, Behind Bars, Natural Health, Abode etc. carry on as before. But the old cafe area and the area behind Abode will have a more unified appearance with this transformation.

The people behind this venture have high hopes for Abingdon.

A new discount store opened today in the Fairacres retail park in Abingdon. B&M Homestore already have a store in Wantage and will be opening another in Didcot at the weekend, and they look to be growing fast, having opened a store in Isle of Sheppey yesterday, Macclesfield the day before…

From only 21 stores and 1 distribution centre in 2004, B&M has grown to 4 distribution centres and over 380 stores across the UK.

I hope there is still a UK when I wake tomorrow.