by Andrew Williams |
November 16, 2016
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We all moan about it - the "Christmas season" seems to start earlier and earlier every year. Where once it would have been mid-December before trees began to appear, now the October half-term signals an explosion of tinsel and troika bells filling the airwaves and the shop windows.
And with the tat and fairy lights comes the new scourge of modern times - the Christmas adverts. John Lewis, M&S, even Aldi and Lidl will all be trying to out-do each other for the best soundtrack, most tear-jerking moment, and greatest amount of cash through the tills.
I am normally a certified Scrooge when it comes to the ads, particularly after last year's demolition of Oasis classic "Half the World Away." This year comes a glimmer of hope, however. The John Lewis advert is actually very good! Here it is:
And I was even more impressed to read that John Lewis had worked with the Wildlife Trust as their charity partner on the advert. They advised the retail giant on how to make the ad and how it could appeal to consumers. Great stuff.
The icing on the cake would be if John Lewis went the extra mile and signed up to the Stop Funding Hate campaign, encouraging retailers to stop advertising in media outlets which encourage discrimination and hatred towards minority groups.
Ok, so in amongst Tuesday's #DayoftheGirl and #NationalComingOutDay, the fact that this is #ChocolateWeek seems a little frivolous. But let's remember, chocolate - well cocoa - can provide a sustainable income for farmers in developing countries ensuring a secure future for their families along with access to education. Choose your chocolate wisely and you can enjoy the smooth sweet flavour safe in the knowledge that your purchase has improved someone's life, albeit in a small way.
This was also one of my favourite weeks of the retail year... as it's when the Christmas Zotter catalogue arrives! We've been stocking Zotter's fabulous organic and Fairtrade chocolate for some time, and their creative flavours and eye-catching packaging, make them a big Eighteen Rabbit favourite.
They have some show stopping advent calendars on offer this year. Check out this stunning tree with luxury chocolates as decorations - pretty special!
And for us vegans, they have a wonderfully tempting box of vegan chocs - with 13 different flavours. That would definitely get me out of bed on a cold December morning!
As a small shop we don't generally like to invest in 'time-sensitive' products. But as I'm definitely having one of those vegan advent calendars, I thought it only fair to offer the same opportunity to you! If you'd like to pre-order the vegan calendar (RRP £21) or the luxury tree calendar (RRP £35) then drop me an email (louise@eighteenrabbit.co.uk) before Monday 17th October and I'll sneak your order in with mine! (Note the writing on these calendars is in German).
We'll have plenty of festive and favourite Zotter chocolate back in stock soon - so keep an eye on our website for some fab new flavours.
by Andrew Williams |
December 01, 2015
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It's officially the first day of winter today, though you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd been frozen over for a few weeks now! We've had ice and frost, wind and rain, and today the River Wye was close to its all time high water mark. Not great shopping weather, but at least we get to listen to our Christmas playlist - and yes we do have a PRS and PPL licence :)
It's also the perfect time of year to think about warming up your wardrobe. We have some lovely new winter fashion from Bolivia, created by a fair trade project that also invests directly back into the community for every item sold. So one hat buys 5 meals for a child supported by the project. All of the items are individually signed by the person who made them!
by Andrew Williams |
December 24, 2014
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We have had a really busy Christmas here at Eighteen Rabbit, so much so we haven't even had a chance to blog about it until now. We were delighted to find ourselves in the Guardian and Observer Christmas Gift Guides, had a great feature in Oh Comely magazine, and also had lots of lovely visitors to the shop here in Hay on Wye.
We would like to wish you all a happy Christmas, and a peaceful new year. We are looking forward to 2015, and hope it will bring even bigger and better things for us in the shop and online.
In January we will be visiting some lovely suppliers in the USA and Mexico, and are aiming to come back fully stocked with new and unique fair trade gifts. Thank you for your custom and support during the past year, and we hope you will continue to follow us in the new year!
