Christmas is all year round at Sydney festive destination, The Christmas Shop.
The Herbert family business in Ramsgate should be enjoying its 30th year anniversary this year. For three decades the colourful local landmark has been a popular destination for families from right across Sydney and beyond, looking to stock up on nativity scenes, tree-angels and tinsel.
But the economy has created a Scrooge-shaped cloud in the form of inflation, rising overheads, increased business costs and pressures of online shopping that are threatening how the small business can continue to operate.
“We very much do this for the love of it and we’ve always put our hearts into our work,” said Yvette, who now owns the shop with her Dad, Brian and sister Jacquie, carrying on their mother’s legacy.
“The best part of our business is the uplifting spirit it brings—people open the door, and we hear them gasp at the sight. That’s when we know we’re doing something right, because it makes our hearts happy.”
“Hopefully we can continue to stay open here because you really can’t get that personal experience any other way. An online cart just isn’t the same as stepping into a Christmas wonderland.”
And while Christmas Day might be still eight weeks away, if you want to avoid the December rush, now’s the ideal time to start shopping for your nativities, angels, trees and Fontanini religious figures and villages.
“The Christmas shopping experience in store is a special event for our customers,” Yvette says.
“They might choose one special ornament or a sentimental piece to take home each year and that’s what helps them remember each particular Christmas.”
The Christmas Shop was opened by the sisters’ mother Lyn Herbert in 1994 and began as a small operation in front of a fruit shop.
“Mum had a dream to bring back the spirit of Christmas that she felt the world was lacking. Her vision was a beautiful store where families could visit and immersive themselves in her ‘store of wonder,’” Yvette said.
What began as a hobby three months of the year grew into an around the clock operation when the shop moved to South Hurstville. In 1999 Yvette left behind a career in the printing industry to turn 12 weeks of Christmas into a full-time role with mum.
Later, the family moved the shop to Ramsgate where they have become a much-loved addition to the community for the past 16 years.
The store is close to Calvary Hospital, which sees patients dropping by for some Christmas cheer.
“People might be having a rotten day, and they’ll come into our store to make them feel a bit brighter,” says Yvette. “They can reconnect with their childhood too and that often puts a smile on their face.”
“One of our customers picks a new model every year to add to her LEMAX Christmas village. When she graduated from law, she bought the law building, another year she spent some tough months in hospital and so she added the pharmacy.
“That’s the best part of the job—bringing joy. We might not be saving the world, but sometimes we can make a difference to someone’s day.”
Over the years the store has also become a hub for many of the surrounding Sydney Catholic priests and nuns. It also works with parish communities who come in for new nativities, wreaths, Christmas villages and more.
As for nativities, Yvette’s seen and sold them all.
Russian hand carved sets, tin displays, ornate gold embellishments, modern vs traditional, detailed porcelain faces, antique styles, iconic Willow Tree and Jim Shore collections, Italian-mad Fontanini Collection, ceramic moulded, even child-safe dioramas. They range from the size of a matchbox, all the way up to life size.
The customers are the heart of the business. Ariana Tsitsos is the only one of her two other siblings who picked up her mother Samantha’s passionate love of Christmas.
Though she now lives in Melbourne, Samantha makes the trip up to Sydney every few weeks and together with Ariana she stops by the shop that’s become a second home.
“Over the years, it has very much evolved from a customer relationship to a great friendship,” Samantha told The Catholic Weekly.
“Life is hard now with these cost-of-living pressures—you don’t have to have all of this stuff to make Christmas amazing, but what’s important is the tradition and the memories passed down to family, which this place makes possible.”
Despite the looming pressures, Yvette hopes in their 30th Christmas to keep that season spirit alive for as many people, and for as many years to come, as possible.
““That was how our mum defined The Christmas Shop as a successful business—meeting and inspiring the next generation of Christmas.”