We had a wonderful evening on Thursday when so many of our lovely customers came through our doors for our annual Christmas Shopping Night. With the glasses of fizz flowing and the mince pies going down well, it was a great start to our festive period!

With the team working for weeks behind the scenes to prepare, all hands were on deck in the final preparatons for the evening. When the shop closed its doors at 5:30 (to reopen at 6:30) the final touches were made: candy canes were unboxed, mince pies were plated up and the fizz was brought out.

The bookshop was full as soon as we opened our doors at 6:30. As the wind continued blowing customers in from the cold, the atmosphere was warm and merry. With many locals and familiar faces, along with some new ones, the shop was buzzing with people catching up with one another and bumping into friends.

As people migrated over to the Deli & Home departments, they discovered the many wonders that were on display, as well as our visiting suppliers who were providing samples and expert knowledge on select products. Our suppliers are always a key feature of our Christmas Shopping Nights and are there to help customers discover the latest treats that are perfect for Christmas gifting (or maybe as a little something for themselves). This year we had James Mitchell from Alliance Wines, Nicola from Neals Yard Dairy (cheese monger), Gayle Swan from Brindisa (Spanish food specialists) and Dominic Tait from the local Tait Brothers Valentian Vermouth.

With Dominic and Gayle set up with their tables in our Home Department customers were able to try delicious vermouth and olives while being surrounded by gorgoues new homeware items. As the gifting season approaches, we have new stock in from FieldDay, one of our previous Home Highlights, and Broste. As well as new suppliers such as Donna Wilson and Morgan Wright.

At the beginning of the evening we thought that it was going to be a quiet kick-off into the new season due to the miserable weather. We could not have been more wrong! Thank you to everyone who made the trip out to join us on Thursday, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and we hope you all did too. And now, although the Christmas Shopping Night is done and dusted, we will be here with all your Christmas needs, in-store and online (check out our new Personal Shopping service) in the run up to Christmas.