Local Shops Make a Heart-Warming Christmas

In this day of superstores, rushed and faceless online shopping, it is easy to forget what Christmas is all about. Some of our Wedgers have been re-inspired and injected with that Christmas spirit, and all they did was take a five minute walk to their local high street. Here are two stories to hopefully inspire you to shop locally this Christmas:

Camden is bustling this time of year and one of our Wedgers was struggling in a large organic wholesaler, with last-minute food purchases on her list. Cranberry sauce: an essential item which is inevitably sold out during the festive season. She shouldered her way through the hungry crowd and found an employee hurriedly restocking the diminishing pile of home-made mince pies. Querying him about the absence of cranberry sauce and also the alternative red currant jelly, she finished her shopping and queued to pay, without either. In the line she suddenly turned to a heavy tap on her shoulder. The employee, large grin on his face dropped a large jar of fresh cranberry sauce into her basket. He had found a stray bottle in his storeroom and had been looking for the lucky Wedger for fifteen minutes! It is tiny acts like this which make not only our shopping experiences special, but they also lift our spirits- especially Christmas spirits.

Another one of our busy little last-minute Christmas Wedgers was trying to buy a Christmas stocking for a party the next day. This, surely, was an item which is never out of stock she thought. Along her local Barnes High Street she searched hurriedly for a stocking, having bought everything to stuff it with previously. She came across a beautiful stocking hanging in the window of an independent gift store crammed with trinkets and delicate presents. Inside, she searched the shelves for this festive miracle but she could not find the stocking anywhere. The shopkeeper, with a warm smile that nearly swallowed her entire face explained that she bought if from another shop and it was only a display. But it did not end here; the shopkeeper took the stocking down from her festive display and sold it to the ecstatic Wedger.

This is what Christmas is all about; going out of your way just that little bit for somebody else. And your local high street is the perfect place to inspire Christmas spirit. Merry Christmas!

Written by Lauren Ottaway

This Wouldn't Happen at Westfield

Walking home past the swans bobbing on the Thames, laden with Christmas gifts, decorations, wrapping paper and mince pies I reminisced; that was Christmas shopping bliss. You must be thinking I am crazy, no? I had just spent three hours Christmas shopping at my local Barnes High Street and I had returned smiling.

Like everybody else in London, I left my Christmas shopping to the last minute; and my family Christmas lunch was tomorrow because we were going away next weekend. I prepared myself for a bustling high street- a rugby scrum of desperate, clawing and snatching people hungry for the perfect, last-minute gift. I imagined a traffic jam from a pile up of banged-up buggies, a twisted mess of plastic shopping bags and screaming children. I wouldn’t even dare take the car out today, not after last month’s traumatic ordeal in the Westfield car park.

As I got closer to the high street I could still hear the liquid dance of the Thames... where was the foreboding hum of busy shoppers?
The small independent gift shop I had in mind for teachers’ gifts for my son’s school had two tiny aisles and little jangly breakables hanging precariously from random shelves. I love these tiny shops but I wondered how much of a battering it would have received this Christmas.
To my surprise, there were no buggies in this store, only a handful of quiet customers and soft Christmas music. I breathed a sigh of relief and stepped into the cosy little gift store. I was surrounded by unique gifts and funky little knick-knacks. That is what I love about the local high street; eccentric, individual retailers where every gift is unique. I remember being at a function last week and seeing three women wearing the same gold leaf chain. I didn’t want the mass-produced product. Trusting in my local high street, I can be confident in knowing that my Christmas will be cracking with quirky presents.

I spent three magical Christmas hours shopping along Barnes High Street. I was greeted with smiles, mulled wine and local Christmas cheer. I walked to my own beat, not offensive, booming music. This is what Christmas is all about: coming together, family, friends and community. There were no queues and blind customer ‘service’; I felt like I was a part of a festive fellowship of people enjoying the local shopping experience at this special time of year.

So I urge you, take a walk down your local high street this Christmas- you will be surprised what you find, and will probably discover a little independent shop you never knew existed. For a calmer Christmas shopping experience- stay local.

Written by Lauren Ottaway