Moonlight Food Store, at 10 St. James's Street seems to be in the same market as the Costcutter at the other end of the once elegant row of shops along this piece of pavement. They sell juices, cereals, 'ambient' biscuits, crisps and snacks, icecream, sweets and cigarettes, the latter also on sale to those without the puff or willpower to walk in through the front doors, through a small grilled window opening on to St James's Street.
They have a cash machine in store, which is not free at ₤1.85 a pop, lottery tickets, Oyster and Paypoint Top-Ups, and have adverts on their outside wall for daycare (Tinkerbells Nursery) and the PC Doctor (Tel 07515375092) for those who live in laptop land.
This business has however chosen to give far greater emphasis to its off license trade than Costcutter or the nearby Turkish Shop, with shelves and refrigeration cabinets that groan with a huge variety of booze. It is as an Off License that the business is advertised by the sign over-hanging the pavement on St James's Street. This position is convenient for people who like to collect their take-aways from the excellent Bengal Curry House a short walk along the road. The council would like to think this is also just the spot for people to pay their council tax.
Moonlight, does not really open late at night, though its signage and logo of a white crescent moon with four white five pointed stars on a blue background suggests it once did. The current owners, who have run Moonlight for the past 5 years and know their local market, now open from 6.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Saturday, and from 7.00am to 7.00pm on Sundays. Tel 0208 281 9142.
Moonlight is next door to the now closed Xtreme Mobiles, and stands on the opposite corner of Leucha Road to Cash Converters.