Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? I’m going to go out on a limb and say…
Yes, yes it is. Schools are only just starting to go back after the summer break, the evenings are still warm(ish), and most people’s winter coats are still firmly in the back of their wardrobes.
Then again, for retailers, Christmas can’t come soon enough. The whole year basically leads up to the season when people are spending like there’s no tomorrow and shops enjoy their busiest time of year.
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending how you look at it, that means lots of shops want to get in on the action as early as possible.
One store getting their Christmas baubles out early this year is Primark, who are selling a Disney advent calendar.
Before you ask, no, disappointingly it’s not chocolate behind each door. Instead, they’ve gone with something less tasty but which should last a whole lot longer – baubles! That’s right, for every day leading up to Christmas from December 1, you can open up an advent calendar and add your Disney-themed decoration to your tree.
The new calendar was shared on Instagram by disneyfind, who said:
Disney Christmas bauble advent calendar COMING SOON to @primark priced at £15 – I actually squealed when I opened this!
The calendar costs £15, meaning it’s just 60p per bauble. Which is a bargain if ever I saw one. The only downside is, I suppose, if you’re depending on the baubles to fill your tree, you’ll have wait til Christmas day before it’s full (if you have the will power to wait, of course).
Primark has released Disney-themed Christmas decorations before, and though they haven’t revealed the design’s inside the advent calendar just yet, you can be sure to expect Mickey and Minnie, as well as well-known characters from Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Little Mermaid.
Primark aren’t the only ones getting in the Christmas spirit, though, as Selfridges made headlines recently as they became the first department store to put up their Christmas decorations.
In a press statement, Selfridges Christmas and home buyer, Eleanor Gregory, said:
We have so many customers visiting from all over the world, eager to snap up festive decorations and souvenirs on their London summer holidays which they can’t buy at home.
This year it will expand to Christmas gifts for pets, the option to create a personalised family Christmas jumper and more than 50 types of tinsel ranging in price from £3 to £15 for the ‘ultimate tinsel garland.’
The store expects to hit peak stock by the end of September, with customers being able to pick from a range of nearly 4,000 Christmas-themed items. More than you can shake a bough of holly at.
The cheapest item you can buy is a souvenir pencil for £1.95, one of the more costly items is a selection of ornate neon signs selling for around £8,500. Because nothing says festive cheer like neon signs.
Merry Christmas, ya filthy animals.
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Charlie Cocksedge is a journalist and sub-editor at UNILAD. He graduated from the University of Manchester with an MA in Creative Writing, where he learnt how to write in the third person, before getting his NCTJ. His work has also appeared in such places as The Guardian, PN Review and the bin.