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The cloudy skies make me think of Christmas…

As we don’t seem to be having much of a summer this year, I’ve been starting to prep for Christmas.  Yes, I know it’s still a while off, and I am still hopeful that we will get more days of sunshine, but it seems I’m not the only one.

My website visitors are up 50% so I’m guessing you are also planning ahead.  This is a great idea, because it not only spreads the cost, but also helps on gloomy days like today.  There’s nothing like looking at glittery, sparkly things to lift your mood.

Our new stock order will be arriving in a couple of months, but there are still lots of lovely glass and wooden tree decorations available right now, plus Christmas ornaments for children and adult gift giving.

We also have festive paper tape available, plus more Christmas stationery items over on our sister website (with more to come).

Our new decorations range includes stylish metallic homewares, colourful fun Christmas signs and baubles, and traditional festive decorations like this Christmas train.  I get Polar Express vibes from this lovely red train with carriages, so I’m hoping you love it too!

In the meantime, if we get some sunshine, I will be enjoying the summer in my garden where I’m growing tomatoes, cucumbers and potatoes.  Please feel free to share your summer break plans below.

Cari xx

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April update – Christmas market bookings and 5 year planning

The first quarter of 2024 has been a blur, with losing dad and trying to help sort everything (not that I’m able to help that much).  April has been playing catch up, by looking for potential markets for the end of the year and getting our accounts up to date.

I have managed to spend some time in the garden, when the weather has been nice, and I now have several pots of compost waiting for various seeds to germinate and push through.  I can’t help feeling like we’re going to be unsuccessful this year, but that’s the joy of gardening, just giving it a go.

We *may* be exhibiting at the Living North Christmas Fairs this year, I’m just trying to sort out logistics and costs etc.  Have you visited them before?  It would be lovely to have an idea of how busy they are as it’s a step up from what we have done to date.  I feel like if I’m ever going to achieve what I want with this business I need to push out of my comfort zone though, so I’m hoping I won’t regret going.  Just need to sort out what the minimum space we need is and get the display plan agreed.  It’s exciting and scary at the same time!

Our new Christmas range will need to be with us before then, so we also need to raise the funds to pay for that.  You can help us get there by shopping from our current Christmas decoration stock or sharing our website with someone who loves the Christmas magic too.  Every purchase helps fund our dream!

Cari xx

 

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A sense of transition

Life this last week of 2023 has been filled with transitions and transformations.  Those who follow along on social media will already know we have been busy moving the office into the dining room and turning the former office room into a stock room.  We are almost halfway to funding our last major purchase thanks to your post Christmas orders, and although it’s still a bit cluttered, the space is really going to make us more efficient in processing your online orders.

The new office in a corner of our dining room needs a bit more attention, and we are trying to manage with a stack of stock tubs still sitting in the kitchen.  They need to move before tonight!

We have been happy dancing all over the place with every ‘kerching’ from an order landing.  Today (31/12/23) is the last day to shop from our 30% off sale, and we still have quite a lot for you to choose from.  How about some glass baubles or tractors for your Christmas tree next year, or a light up house or church for your mantle?  We also have a lovely deer tea light holder which would make an amazing table centrepiece.

Our next parcel collection is booked for Tuesday morning and I’m sure I will find time over the next 24 hours to pack orders as we celebrate the dawn of a New Year quietly at home.

All that’s left to say is we wish you a very peaceful and joyous New Year, and hope to be happy dancing to your orders in 2024.

Cari and family behind The UK Christmas Store

 

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2024 prep and offering you a better experience

I hope you had a lovely Christmas.  With the amount of orders we got through, even on Boxing Day, there will have been some lovely decorations on display.  If you are still waiting for yours to arrive, we had a couple en route and a big Royal Mail collection this morning, so they will be with you soon.

This time between Christmas and New Year is always when I think about which direction to go in, and thanks to our lovely online customers I know we need to build on what we’ve achieved in 2023.  While we will still be doing Christmas markets, they can be very unreliable financially and involve a high cost not only in stall fees but transportation and time.  We are also getting older, and health concerns mean we need to use our energy in a more efficient way.

Reflecting, as most people do with a new year arriving, I’m a little cross with myself for not being more visible online in previous years.  We’ve doubled our online sales in 2023 thanks to all of you and a little ‘let’s just do it’ self belief.  After approx 14 years of trading where would we be now if I’d thought that sooner?

The focus for 2024 will be on service.  I want to provide you with a lovely experience when buying from us, so I am going to build on the way we package and ‘thank’ our customers when they order online.  It’s exciting and there’s lots on my to do list already.

We will be ordering stock at the end of January and already have a small wish list (including dinosaur decorations).  Now is the time to let me know if there’s something you just haven’t been able to find.

Our 30% off store wide sale continues until the end of 2023 so there’s still t8me to grab a Christmas bargain.  I usually restock the more popular decorations so don’t worry if you miss out this time.

Cari xx

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Time to shift my focus

I love my small business.  I’ve been running small businesses since my children were small, I remember carrying them into markets in their car seats and setting up while my husband unloaded.  Now they are old enough to work for me and it’s my husband and I who are slowing down a little.

This year has been all about getting the website working for us more.  There’s still a very long way to go, but I am happy with how many orders we’ve had from all over the UK and overseas too.  I’m starting to plan for the next few years and online is where I want to really focus.

We will still be attending markets as this is where our core sales (usually) come from, but it’s time to be more selective as we only have so much energy!

The last pre-Christmas delivery has just been collected, and while we are still open for orders and will be posting up until Friday 22 nd, I expect things to slow a little.  The stock is ready to make way for the dining room/office switch which will take place after Christmas (provided I can muster the energy for that) and then it’s straight into planning stock for 2024.

Please keep your orders coming, I know that a lot of us have time off over the festive period so it would be lovely to have a flurry of orders to see us through to January.  The sale continues to the end of December.

A very happy and healthy Christmas and a safe new year to all

Cari

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It was just too windy, and I feel like crying.

We tried.

We really tried.

But when a stall holder a few down from you gets hit by part of the tent structure, you have to put safety first.

We both have jobs, we have children who need us, it’s just not worth it.

I wouldn’t normally share this, but running a business this way is really tough.  Last year at Bowes we took £650 over the three days.  This year we’ve had sales of £170 (and a day that should’ve been cancelled before we drove 40 miles.)

Im trying to be positive, but it feels like that’s our Christmas down the toilet.  We both rely on our lovely business to pay for Christmas and I know it’s not about the presents etc, but even doing a food shop is a stretch now.  It’s been a very difficult and challenging season for us, an ‘annus horribilis’ business wise which then impacts us too.  There’s no events left, only my little website as an option.

Im trying.  If you can help us at all it would be appreciated more than you could ever know.  I’m going to unload and unpack, everything will be available online soon and I’m going to sell some unused display things too.

If you can, please share about our business.  If you can, find a treasure you will love and buy it.  If you can, order a box full of Christmas goodies and know that you have done all you can to help us and our little business keep going.

A heartfelt thank you in advance.

Cari xx

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Last day at Bowes Museum may be weather affected…..

Nothing official but we are holding onto our hats (and everything else) because strong winds are forecast so I may well be doing a Mary Poppins, at least holding onto the stock I can’t peg down.

So far the winter market has been a bit of a flop, despite all the fab stall holders and small businesses there.  We are next to the mouthwatering Hedgehog Bakery, and there are dog treats, jewellery stalls, artists and crafters alongside brewers and preserve makers too.  Lacey’s cheese are there too, we enjoyed some cheeses from them a couple of years ago.

It’s well worth a visit and we are all a little disappointed that it hasn’t been as busy as previous years – we are currently 2/3 down on takings.

THEREFORE…..

We have extended our online sale and increased the discount to 30% – that’s a huge saving off the normal retail price.  We are running very low on some decorations though so you need to be quick if you want it for Christmas!

Happy Shopping!

Cari

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Time to make some space!

If you didn’t know, we don’t have actual retail premises – it’s on the business plan.  This means we need to move the stock every year so we can have our dining room back for Christmas Day.  As the business grows, so does our stock area which is great news for our customers – SALE TIME!

From today until the 18th December we have 20% off everything online.  This means you can get our nativity or snowman nesting dolls for £20 plus postage, or a couple of sets of wooden decorations for £11.20 plus postage.

We’ve also noticed that our elves have decided to make the cut out tree decorations buy one get one free, giving you an even bigger saving on them!

Stock is very limited so don’t delay!

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Last posting dates before Christmas

I thought November disappeared quickly, but where is December going?  I’m already sharing our last posting date before Christmas (it’s 22nd December by the way).  I’m certain if you order on that date that your items will not arrive before Christmas (unless Santa has some space on his sleigh) so if you are shopping for stocking fillers or novelty gifts please order before then.  Royal Mail recommend posting by Monday 18th December and our cut off for ordering will be Sunday 17th before 8 pm.

Anything urgent after that date we will need to upgrade your delivery, which may incur extra costs.  I will try to update the postage rates accordingly to make shopping with us as easy as possible.

No Christmas markets this weekend sadly, so I will spend my free time checking stock levels as I know some decorations are either sold through or low in stock now.  If there is anything you’ve had your eye on please don’t delay, we get orders every day and we don’t order a lot of each Christmas decoration.

As January starts to show over the horizon, what Christmas decorations would you like us to find for 2024?  We start looking mid January and aim to have orders placed soon after, so now is the time to send your requests through.

Cari

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How do you do yours?

We put our Christmas tree up yesterday.

We’ve had to get a smaller one this year because of our lovely Jack Russell.  This is the second Christmas with him in our family, and he was great with the tree last year, however he does love woofing at people walking along the path at the front of our house.  We bought a desk to try and block his access to the window, and his crate fits nicely underneath it.

Last year we simply moved his crate to make space for our floor standing tree, however this year with a desk to relocate too it was much easier to buy a smaller tree.

I’m still getting used to the new tree and our mismatch of decorations on it.  Scrolling through TikTok this morning, I came across a lovely lady discussing how a friend was having to replace all her tree decorations because they had redecorated their room and the colour scheme didn’t match.  This shocked her, she described her own tree decorations as a scrapbook for all the memories of children growing, holidays and trips where they had to collect a new decoration for the tree etc.  Very much like our own tree, we don’t have Instagram – worthy festive decor, more a collection of quirkiness.


For all those who like to mismatch their ornaments, telling a life story each Christmas, we have plenty of quirky in stock.  Brussels sprouts on your tree anyone?  Hamburger?  Tractor or festive cow?