As reported here:
 http://oxford.indymedia.org.uk/2011/07/482526.html
...the "Eastern and Continental Store", generally just known as "the Continental", was closed down on 20th July, repossessed by the landlords. Another step in the inevitable gentrification of Cowley Road, or so it seemed.

Today I was pleasantly surprised to see it open once again!

I popped in to check whether the same people were running it, and recognised one of them. I told him I was happy to see they had re-opened, and asked what had happened. He seemed reluctant to go into details, just saying that "we just had a little issue, but we're open again now"..

So who knows? Maybe they scraped through a crisis somehow. Maybe it was a temporary misunderstanding. What we can be sure of is that with two major supermarkets crowding the area and rents higher than ever, it can't be easy for independent places on Cowley Road right now....