Getting that Festive Feeling

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Our resident blogger Lucy Young @_Oceancityliving is beginning to feel festive and has made a start on the Christmas shopping – with plenty of inspiration to share if you need it!

One thing that I’ve really been missing in the run up to Christmas this year is those little moments out and about when you start to get into the festive spirit. That lovely feeling you get when you wander round the shops with their lush seasonal displays, hum along to Christmas tunes and marvel at the twinkling street lights and wonderful windows.

The first box of mince pies that accidentally finds itself in your trolley, the Christmas catalogues you pick up to pore over at home with a festive tipple and the mental lists of gift ideas you make as you browse around the town. It all feels very remote and very different this year.

And whilst most of us have been looking to the internet to help us out with our present buying and food shopping, whether that’s from our wealth of local independents or the popular high street shops, there are actually still places that are open within the city where you can shop in person for gifts and foodie treats and soak up a bit of much needed seasonal atmosphere.

Inside Drake Circus, high street heroes Marks & Spencer, Boots and Holland & Barrett are both open for business for ‘essential’ items, but there are other things on offer in store as well. Whilst most of the shop is closed, Marks & Spencer Food Hall is brimming with the festive food and drink they are famous for. On a recent trip into town I picked up some very special sparkly gin liqueur and a Scandi-style house biscuit tin filled with mini shortbread. The gin liqueur has been a best seller this year I’m told; its beautifully decorated bottle doubles as a grown-up snow globe which even lights up. A gorgeous present idea for gin lovers and the perfect centre piece for anyone’s Christmas cocktail trolley.

I stocked up on chocolate coins and stocking filler sweets while I was in there but also found some other gifts to tick off my list: cosy pj’s and fluffy socks for one niece and some nice toiletries for an uncle. It was so nice to browse for some gifts in person, even if it was from a limited selection available at the moment. There are also Christmas decorations and trees to buy and staff were on hand to help with any questions.

Boots has its 3 for 2 gifts offer on and again I was able to buy off the shelf for discerning nieces and nephews who’d asked for specific things and I also managed to get some special Christmas sets of luxury beauty brands for some friends and relatives who I daren’t go ‘off list’ for.

For those of you toy shopping for younger children, The Entertainer is also open in the mall for click and collect as is Smyth’s Toy Superstore at Friary Retail Park on Exeter Street. So that must have toy of 2020 can still be tracked down to help Santa out a little bit.

The hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping might not quite be there at the moment, but there was still a bit of a buzz in the shops and yes, the cheesy tunes and twinkly decorations are out in force. I was pleasantly surprised that some other high street stores were also open for click and collect inside the Mall. Lush, Waterstones, Next and the Apple shop all had friendly staff manning the store fronts for people to collect pre-ordered items. So it’s definitely worth remembering that you can order online from your favourite shops but still pop out to collect in person, saving you on postage or avoiding being out and missing that all important delivery slot.

With Black Friday coming up on 27 November there are a lot of great deals to be had to lighten the load on the Christmas budget. But this year at least you can avoid wandering around aimlessly feeling stressed and under pressure to make impulse purchases. Why not spend this week doing a bit of research before buying online to secure the best bargains and then heading out to collect your parcels in person?

A lot of the well known and independent coffee shops and eateries in town are also open for take away. So you can click and collect some great gifts, pick up a festive flavoured coffee and then take a stroll as it gets dark to look at the Christmas lights.

Shopping local can still be done during this lockdown, even if some of it is from the comfort of your sofa. But by supporting our local shops and businesses, even the high street chains that employ a lot of local people, you’re ensuring that your hard earned money goes back into the local economy and the shops and services you love will make it through this Covid crisis and they’ll be there for us to enjoy when we come out the other side.

And when certain restrictions are lifted after 2 December and we can return to the shops it’s sure to be busy. So my advice would be to get in there early, beat the crowds and get ticking things off your list. You never know, it might bring on the festive cheer you’re looking for too.

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Funded by the Reopening High Street Safely Fund, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund and HM Government