13 minute read
Spotlight On... Christmas gifts
There’s a very different feel to Christmas this year, with most people feeling optimistic that it’s going to be a really good one, making up for last year’s lack of getting together with friends and family.
Gifting is, of course, top of the list, and shortages aside, (see Taking Stock on pages 14-17), with people shopping early, hopefully it will be a season to be jolly, with fun, laughter and lots of gifts to open under the Christmas tree. Jewellery always makes a lovely gift, especially if it’s Christmas themed. “Novelty Christmas jewellery, at under £10, is a popular choice year after year, with retailers and customers alike, as it is an ideal stocking filler, works really well as a Secret Santa gift and is a firm favourite as a teacher’s gift,” says Mary Caputo, buyer at Joe Davies.
“It’s also the perfect self-purchase for office parties and family parties
Above: Tis The Season To Sparkle from Joe Davies. Right: A selection of Hot Tomato’s sparkly brooches. Above right: Life Charms Christmas sleeve collection.
Having missed out on a ’proper’ Christmas in 2020, Christmas spending started earlier than usual this year, with people wanting to have their gifts bought and wrapped ahead of the big day.
From £5 and under stocking fillers, to more considered purchases at around the £20 mark, it’s been an encouraging start to the festive season, with plenty of ideas around to keep the tills jingling.
over the festive period. In fact, Christmas novelty jewellery scores highly on all fronts,” confirms Mary. “Our Equilibrium ‘Tis The Season To Sparkle Christmas jewellery collection is supplied with an eye-catching Christmas tree shaped counter display unit, and holds Santa, snowman and reindeer fun, bauble shaped earring designs, and three modern on trend fun Christmas brooches, with a
Christmas bell or two to really get people into the Christmas spirit!”
As Hot Tomato’s managing director Alex Machin says: “Hair clips, clamps and bobby pins hit the sweet spot for those special little gifts and stocking fillers, along with lovely brooches, all of which make a terrific festive gift. And with most coming in at under £10 they won’t break the bank!” points out Alex.
Staying with jewellery, in the £20 and under category, Life Charms has launched a festive Christmas sleeve collection featuring an adjustable silver-plated bracelet and festive charms. “It’s a lovely way to show love to someone special during Christmas,” says managing director Tony Barrett.
“'Tis the season to gift!” enthuses Katie Loxton, founder of her eponymous company and also Joma Jewellery. “Whether
customers are on the hunt for a special Secret Santa gift or looking to treat a loved one, our selection of Christmas crackers make a lovely place setting addition to the Christmas Day table.”
Festive, fun and full of cheer, the cracker collection features three different styles, each boasting a sentiment, silver plated ‘A Little’ bracelet, decorated with a luxe gold speckled design.
In addition, Joma Jewellery has launched a new ‘A Little’s’ festive collection featuring Christmassy styling, and decorated with tiny elves and shooting stars. It all started with baking banana bread during the pandemic, but now, with people regularly enjoying entertaining friends and family at home, and wanting to expand their culinary skills, buying gifts for ‘foodies’ is on course to be a big trend this Christmas.
“With the pandemic encouraging more and more people to turn their hand to home baking, our newly re-launched amber jars - which will be commemorating our 50th anniversary in 2022 - reflect vintage kitchen storage but with a contemporary twist,” says Candlelight’s marketing manager Kate Winch. “To complement the storage jars, we have also created a co-ordinating range of home fragrance to fill the kitchen with the aroma of home baking, vanilla and cocoa butter,” adds Kate.
Also focusing on kitchen storage is Rex London, with the company’s quirky, colourful tins appealing to Christmas shoppers looking for something different. “They encourage gift givers to multi-purchase, with these unusual tins adding a pop of colour into a kitchen environment,” says Rex’s marketing & communications manager Anna Williams.
With over 60 new products launched for AW 21, Scottish gift and homeware
business Selbrae House is looking forward to a bumper Christmas season. Donny Carstairs, founder and managing director of Selbrae House, which also has sibling brands Just Slate and Scottish Made, highlights: “After last year’s lack of
Christmas entertaining, it's expected that families and friends will want to be together more than ever this Christmas, so products that help with home entertaining will be flying off the shelves.
Most of our products are made in
Scotland, with our Scottish Made wooden products manufactured from wood sourced from a local Fife social enterprise.” On trend products include
Above: Joma Jewellery’s crackers contain a silverplated ‘A Little’ bracelet.
Puzzling It Out
Of course, one of the most endearing traditions of Christmas is playing puzzles and games, especially after lunch on Christmas Day, with an illustrated 1,000 piece, sustainably sourced puzzle from Wrendale Designs featuring over 100 of Hannah Dale’s best loved illustrations. “The puzzle is packaged in a tall box making it a really special gift,” highlights creative director Hannah.
Below: Wrendale Designs’ sustainable jigsaw puzzle is ready to gift.
Jump(ers) For Joy
For gift retailers, one of the main success stories of the past 19 months has been one size clothing, with tops and jumpers set to be a winner this Christmas.
“Stylish loungewear has remained a firm favourite with our stockists and is continually growing,” concurs Lisa Hemingway, owner of Chalk.
As she points out: “being mostly one size enables stockists to select from the subtle colour pallets across the range, mixing and matching to suit an independent retailer’s style. This is easy to do on a small or large collection, adding in homeware and accessories in similar tonal colours to complete the look."
Right: Chalk’s Vicki jumper range shows off an assortment of colours in one size.
Entertaining At Home
Left: Candlelight’s newly re-launched amber kitchen storage jars. Below: A gift for dog lovers from Selbrae House. Below left: Two quirky kitchen storage tins from Rex London.
bee related gifts, dog designs and new barware and drinks gift ranges.
With stocking fillers in mind, T&G’s marketing manager, Jenny Handley, adds, “with so many people going home baking crazy over the past 19 months, our sustainable wooden spoons and spatulas have a giftable twist for home bakers and foodies, as each has a tongue in cheek message. They include Star Baker, Chief Cook, Homemade and Eat Well, Live Well, Be Well, making them great gifts for home cooks and bakers, with prices starting at £2.75.”
Also looking to get gift recipients chuckling are Go La La’s Trollied Dollies minichopping boards, (a newly launched gift line that complements the company’s greeting card captions), which are manufactured in the UK from sustainably sources eucalyptus. “They make fun gifts for Christmas stocking fillers, and with a durable melamine coating, they bring a bit of playful humour to the kitchen making them ideal for cutting a Christmas cheeseboard or slicing lemons and limes for a festive tipple,” points out Go La La’s director John Higgins. With food flasks currently trending, Lifetime Brands’ marketing director, Claire Budgen, concurs that consumers are becoming dab hands at meal prepping in an effort to save money, reduce food waste and eat healthier and easier. “Mindful of the time of year, we see these food flasks as a very popular choice for Christmas stocking fillers as consumers plan to switch to better habits in the New Year,” says Claire. “Plus, they're a great way of keeping healthy, hot food hot during the winter months when out and about.” Meanwhile, a stoneware mini-jug, featuring an embossed robin, designed in house, is among Gisela Graham’s newest products this year. “It’s sweet and festive but goes on being useful for rest of the year, such as for warm milk on the side when enjoying a coffee,” says Piers. It’s not just decorating the Christmas tree, or the arrival of Christmas cards, that fanfares the arrival of the festive season, it’s also the evocative festive fragrances that let you know that Christmas has arrived, with many home fragrancing products making lovely stocking fillers.
The company has added four new festive scented sachets - Christmas Spice, White Christmas, Frost Holly and Christmas Nights - to its The Scented Home Collection. “Each one features a different colourful festive design and is finished with a grosgrain ribbon for hanging,” highlights Deborah.
Left: A humorous Go La La mini chopping board. Below: A trendy food flask from Lifetime Brands. Far left: Among T & G’s gifting ideas for home bakers. Left: A Christmas themed mini jug from Gisela Graham.
Stocking Up With Home Fragrance
Above: A line-up of festive scented sachets from Ashleigh & Burwood which retail at £3.
Continued on page 37
Animal Crackers
For many people, the unconditional friendship of a furry friend - dogs and cats especially - was a huge comfort during the lockdown period, with pet sales soaring over the past 19 months. It therefore comes as no surprise that pet gifts, as well as pet-themed gifts, are continuing to trend this year.
“Our guides on How to Speak Cat and Dog make perfect gifts for anyone who might be getting a new pet for Christmas,” says Gift Republic’s designer Isaac Michael, “while our dog and cat IQ tests will be appreciated by pet lovers looking to get closer to their four-legged friends this winter. We have also released a new Doggy Bath Bomb this season – a great stocking filler for any pooches who deserve a bit of extra love and a luscious winter coat this Christmas.”
Left: Testing times for dog lovers, Gift Republic’s dog IQ test.
Best Kept Secrets too, offers a myriad of Christmas gift ideas, from boxed candles with matching gift bags, to small, inexpensive pickup gifts that include the company’s Christmas range of wax melts. “Retailing at under £5, they make a lovely, easy gift for someone, or as a festive self-treat,” says managing director Vanessa Curry.
“Although Lesser & Pavey produces lots of products for the Christmas period, a key player for us has been our extensive ranges of candles, fragrance diffusers and aroma lamps,” confirms managing director Julian Hunt. “We have many aroma lamps that feature symbols of Christmas, while producing fragrances associated with the festive season - light and fragrance all
Right: Merry Christmas red wax melts from Best Kept Secrets. Above rightt: Lesser & Pavey diffusers and candles in rose gold come in sparkle containers.
rolled into one - setting a wonderful ambience anywhere in the house for this time of year. Plus, our hand filled, soy wax Desire Aroma candle jars come in different sizes and in a wide range of different colours and fragrances.”
Confirms Julian, “diffusers have been particularly popular, and their popularity continues with our range of rose gold, silver and gold diffusers, along with our matching candles. They come in ‘sparkle containers’ making them an ideal festive gift, as they are gift boxed and come at an affordable price point.”
Focusing On Nature
One of the positives to come out of the pandemic is that it has made people aware of nature and the great outdoors, with sales soaring for associated gift-led products. “Our new Botanicals Lavender & Sage hand wash and lotion is an ideal Christmas gift for nature lovers,” says Sarah-Jayne Crowle, marketing executive at St Eval. “It’s made with a harmonious blend of 100% naturally derived ingredients and pure essential oils for calming, balancing, and healing effects. Additionally, the range is vegan friendly and paraben-free, featuring recyclable packaging.” Also focusing on recyclability and the environment is Tom Willday, founder of Willsow, which is setting out to educate young children to go from indoors to outdoors thanks to a range of plantable vegetable and herb books - featuring carrots, lettuce, basil, dill and parsley - which have seeds embedded in the covers.
“They’re a great stocking filler for adults to buy as a sustainable, educational gift for a young child,” says Tom, whose company received an investment from ‘dragon’ Sarah Davies earlier this year. “They make a lovely gift for Christmas with children able to plant the seeds in the New Year.”
Above: St Eval’s Botanicals Lavender & Sage hand wash and lotion. Right: Willsow’s The Plantable Children’s Book.
Christmas Novelties
For Boxer Gifts, the Secret Santa season is where the company comes into its own. “The fun gift, usually £10 or under, will make someone smile, and can really bring work teams together,” says Boxer’s managing director Thomas O’Brien.
“We find office gifts, such as the Workplace Mood Swings flip books or hobby mugs - to include Knit Happens - are fun, but still useful beyond the event, so it’s £10 well spent. Plus, a gift that gets kids engaging with their family on Christmas morning always drive great sales for stocking fillers, with a sweet spot at £5 or under. Fun lines like the Naughty Elf joke book and the Grow an Elf trigger these emotions and are right on price too.”
Meanwhile, Mad Beauty’s retro Christmas wind-up hand cream is a totally new concept for the company this year, a hand cream in a mechanical holder which offers a fun and different way to dispense the product. “The holder can then be used afterwards with similar sized products, and will look great on someone’s desk or dressing table,” says Mad Beauty’s creative director Julia Cash.
