THERE might be just over 100 sleeps before Christmas, but for one Wokingham shopkeeper, there’s just over a month before her festive season begins.
Georgina Hustler, who runs Maison Rustic and Antique Rose in Bush Walk, is preparing to create a very special festive experience.
She has just taken over the former Wallis store to open Wokingham’s Christmas Wonderland.
With her team of elves, she is busy moving festive stock into the store ready for its opening in early October.
“Customers love our Christmas ranges,” she said. “It’s my bread and butter.
“It means we’ll have three shops, which is a bit scary in the current climate, but people have been so excited about us running a dedicated Christmas shop.”
And being one of Santa’s little helpers means that the work has to be done now to ensure everything is ready well ahead of December 25.
“We’ve been busy, busy. We got the keys last week and have been decorating, we’ve moved stock in and all new stock is starting to arrive.
“We usually carry around 5,000 unique decorations in the shop.
The store, which is a temporary lease, will create eight jobs and feature all the usual ranges that people expect.
“It’s really good quality stuff, and include high quality decorations and winter items, including candles and lanterns. It’s a real Christmas wonderland.”
The space in the new store has many advantages – the displays don’t have to be crammed in, and there will be plenty of space so that people can social distance comfortably. And there will be festive tableaus so people can see what a particular theme would look like once unpacked and added to the tree.
And after the year we’ve had, Georgina thinks people will be really wanting to celebrate this festive season.
“People really want to celebrate Christmas and find that little bit of joy, that warm Christmassy feeling,” she said. “No one has really had a summer holiday this year, Christmas is the next thing that people can look forward to.”
The new store will launch with a Christmas shopping event that will be very exclusive.
Tickets will be limited to between 100 and 150 people, and cost £10 each. This includes a bottomless glass of prosecco, a goody bag and a donation to Wokingham In Need.
“Organising it is a bit of a challenge, but we’re planning to close Bush Walk for the event,” she said. “People will have a time slot so that there will be no more than 20-30 people in the three shops at any one time.
“If there’s enough demand, we’ll look at running two or three different evenings. These will be really exclusive, and a really nice evening out for many people.”
And for those that know, Antique Rose has been home to some of the most beautiful face coverings, often selling out of stock as soon as it comes in.
“There will be Christmas masks,” promises Georgina. “I’m super excited.”
