Twas 146 nights before Christmas, when all thro' the shop, not a creature was stirring...
Now we're into August, London's major retailers are dreaming of candy canes and record profits. Selfridges launched its Christmas Shop today, although the majority of people we ran into weren't actually real:
We recently reported from Harrods' Christmas product launch, but Selfridges is one of the first major London stores to put its Christmas goodies on sale to the public (largely for the benefit of overseas tourists).
Selfridges' range — which will be expanded during the autumn — seems less exclusive than Harrods, with plenty of reasonably affordable knick-knacks. Like these:
And this:
Then again, if you want to splash out, you can:
The trees aren't the only fake item you can buy here; there's also this ready-made white Christmas powder (there was a demonstration table but few people to demonstrate to).
And just in case we gave the impression no one's really in the mood for Christmas shopping just yet, we did see someone at the till. That's one person who won't be dashing about like a mad thing on Christmas Eve.
