It’s that time of year when Mariah Carey starts to defrost and Christmas lights begin to sparkle.
If you’re already overwhelmed by the thought of festive shopping, fear not. With the array of options that Kingston has to offer, there is no need to brave the crowds of Oxford Street.
Here’s your guide to where in Kingston you should spend your November pay cheque this Christmas.
- Cards for good causes
Tucked inside All Saint’s Church by the Ancient Market Place is the Cards for Good Causes pop-up shop. It can be easy to miss when walking past, but it is definitely worth a visit.
The shop sells hundreds of cards supporting more than 80 local and national charities. For the first time, it is selling braille Christmas cards supporting the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB), with the option to print personalised braille messages in store.
As well as cards, this pop-up, located next to the church’s cafe, is selling festive decorations, calendars, and stocking fillers, such as stuffed toys and stationary.
The shop is open from 10am to 4pm from Monday to Saturday, and from 1pm to 4pm on Sundays.
2. Banquet Records
If you felt inspired by this year’s John Lewis advert where a son gifts his father a sentimental music record, then Banquet Records is the place for you.
The independent record shop on Kingston’s Eden Street sells a variety of new vinyls and CDs across different musical genres, as well as soundtracks and re-issues of classics, so there are a variety of gift options for the music fan in your life.
Alternatively, you can treat a loved one to a ticket to one of their intimate gigs hosted at Circuit nightclub.
Banquet Records is open from 10am to 6pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday, and opens from 10am to 7pm on Thursdays, and 12pm to 5pm on Sundays.
3. Bentall Centre
As you likely already know, Kingston’s megamall is the ideal place to shop for presents this Christmas. The Bentall Centre is home to 55 shops across 4 floors, and offers over 100 brands to choose from.
What you may not know is that the shopping centre is extending its opening hours for the festive season. On Black Friday the centre will close at 9pm and, from then on, the closing time has been extended to 8pm each weekday except Thursdays, when it will close at 9pm.
The centre will continue to open at 8am six days a week, and open from 10am to 5pm on Sundays.
With a range of stores from Build-a-Bear to Pandora, the Bentall Centre can provide gifts for all the family.
4. Lush
Lush in Market Square has gone above and beyond this Christmas.
The cosmetics store, famed for its handmade vegan options, has brought back its best selling Snow Fairy collection including bath bombs, scrubs, and shower jellies and, new this year, the Snow Fairy hair primer.
The popular festive marzipan, vanilla, and tangerine fragrance Snowcake has also made a requested return.
5. Kingston Christmas Market
Finally, we have Kingston’s very own Germanic Christmas market.
The wooden village in the Market Square offers a quieter alternative to the bustle of the Central London’s larger festive markets.
The market has an extensive variety of food stalls, including German sausages and Yorkshire pudding wraps, as well as a number of independent traders.
The new traders for this year include Dollond & Co, a personalised antiques company from Portobello Road, Oyster Art, a handmade oyster shell decorations business, and Socktopus, a family owned business selling novelty socks, including a number of Christmas and animal options.
