Our Story
Here are a list of products and services you can find in store...
• National Lottery
• Collect + Parcel Service
• Pay Point Top-Ups
• Cuisine De France Bakery
• Fresh Local Bread
• Local News Deliveries
• Fruit & Vegetables
• Wide Range of Magazines
• Off License
• Soft Drinks & Confectionary
• Stationary & Cards
• Chilled & Frozen Foods
• Household Products
• Calor Gas
• Batteries
• Kindling & Logs
• Dry Cleaning Service
The History of the Store...
1937 saw the opening of the present store which was transferred from a room in a bungalow in Upper Crescent (hence the present name Crescent Stores Spar Ltd) and operated by my auntie Francis and uncle Ernie and my dad Cecil who used to go round the nearby villages selling grocery off the van. With the outbreak of the war Ernie continued to run the shop and Dad went overseas. 1946 saw Cecil and Dora or Dolly as she was known started their own business taking on the Post Office and Newsagents until 1949 when Francis and Ernie moved to Eastleigh and we moved next door to take on the shop and moved the PO and News to Crescent Stores. 1952 saw the first extension to the shop, which was originally 125 sq ft, more than doubling its size. Leaving school in 1958 I joined the business, which was still delivering to various villages and parts of Witney and soon after joined Wavy Line and were serviced by Kinlochs of Eynsham. Other supplies came from Kinghams, Grimbley Hughes, Brazils and Collins of Evesham. In 1972 ill health took both my parents forced Pauline and myself to make a big decision. We took on the shop but 6 months later Pauline was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma and died 2 years later. My present wife Lyn joined me as a partner in the business and we opened a second shop in Witney which we ran for a while until Ian was born which presented obvious problems so this was sold and all our efforts concentrated on Minster Lovell.. 1991 was the turning point of our fortunes as this was the year we joined Spar having been a P& H fan for many years. Turnover continued to rise when after many loyal years Karen our daughter was made a director. Two years later we decided to expand again and brought the shop area forward 12 feet creating the 1800 sq feet you see today. Ian joined us in 2012 and was made a director in 2016. This refit began with new SEL Strips… which then resulted in a complete re-fit.
