Does anyone remember BHS Christmas in the 90's?

[crochetmonkey74]

Was thinking yesterday about when BHS were the first store to really 'do' Christmas and they had all stuff we had never seen before- like the big iced gingerbread hearts and themed 'banks' of colors coordinated decs etc. We used to LOVE it and would get excited when it launched. Does anyone else have fond memories? I can't find any pics online at all

@Toddlerteaplease I remember the Leicester Lewis's, fab Christmas windows & brilliant grotto!

BHS always had the best lighting department. The ceiling lights in my lounge came from them.

Yes, it was lovely. I bought loads in BHS, it's a shame they went under.

Ahh, I loved BHS at Christmas! My BHS Christmas decorations will be coming out of their boxes very soon. I know exactly which ones they are.

@Comefromaway Are you from Leeds? The Lewis's there had the most amazing Santa grotto when I was little. The queue to get in went right round the shop and there were all scenes from fairy tales to look at through different windows as you queued. My mum said it was the same when her dad used to take her in the 30s.

When my DC were small (18 and very nearly 21 now), I used to buy loads of their smaller gifts and stocking fillers in there. They always had unusual things and everything was reduced massively just before Christmas. I was a single mum on a budget, and I used to keep an eye out for the reductions starting as I knew I'd always pick up some nice things for them in there.

Always thinking of my stomach but Bhs cafe was fantastic for a 5,7 or 10 item breakfast. I also used to go there some afternoons if i fancied a bit of "me time". Magazine and a coffee with some cake! Ahhh! miss those days so much!

I remember going to the BHS cafe in the late 70s/ early 80s. It was a real treat.

They used to have a counter full of glasses filled with different coloured fizzy pop and you would choose your colour and put it on your tray. In hindsight I found this disproportionately amazing 😂 but I absolutely loved it.

My daughter was flower girl at a couple of weddings in the 90's, and both dresses (and shoes) were from BHS, they did beautiful raw silk bridesmaids dresses. We shopped there so often that when we were abroad one year, someone asked my daughter where we were from and she said British Home Stores (we still joke about that 25 years later).

I remember BHS Xmas stuff too. Used to get lots of stocking filler pressies from there.

I had BHS Country Vine crockery ( white with ivy) - we had that too! Their house stuff was lovely quality for the price. They used to have a decent lighting selection too.

Liverpool had a Lewis's with a lovely statue of Dicky Lewis if you looked up

I remember buying my dog Christmas gifts there with my first wage in the early 90s, nobody else was doing pet gifts at the time. That same year i splashed out and bought my mum and dad luxurious dressing gowns, that cost a small fortune but we're nicer than the M&S or John Lewis (Bainbridges at that time). I remember being extremely grown up spending such a large amount but I knew I was buying quality. The early 90s were fab, but it went down hill. Agree with others, towels and lighting were second to none.

Our artificial Xmas tree is from Woolworths

oh yes!

Every Xmas mum and I would take a day off work and get dropped off in town by Dad at around 8.30am, have a 5 piece breakfast in the cafe (we always had bacon, scrambled egg, tinned plum tomatoes, black pudding and fried slice with a pot of tea! sometimes we even had a 7 piece! ) then wander around looking at all the weird and wonderful things, then come out laden with goodies and nice wrapping paper and bows and full of chrimbo cheer! It so much better quality than M&S in those days.

wow... that just opened up a memory box in my brain... especially as my mum died years ago... god I loved chrimbo shopping with my mum...

I loved BHs in the 90s & still use the Country Vine crockery I had for a wedding present in 1997! The Christmas shop really was something special & definitely the first of it's kind. It was brilliant for jokey presents & tree decorations & really good value for money. BHS went really downhill before it closed but I still miss the 80s/90s BHS.

Maybe I’m getting old, but things seemed better in the 90’s generally.

Awwww Welshtart that memory is lovely , it must give you very bittersweet memories , warm feelings that you had that time and sad that it can never be re-created .

I was talking to my DS - 20 -(he was captive by the stove making gravy so couldn't escape from me) . We bought him a toy bat that attached to a hook in the ceiling and flew round in circles .
He remembered it , it was up there a few years
I stood in the queue (BHS) nearly hurling because there were lavender bath products next to the till ( major morning sickness trigger for me) .
DS was looking at the lights with DH , in his backpack carrier

Growing up on a council estate in Brixton in the late 70s. The tenants association had a Xmas club which paid out end of November. So many of the estate were minted for a week or so. Most people would put in a fiver or a tenner a week, so you can imagine the riches! Whole families would go on the trip.
A coach was arranged for a special late night shopping trip to the heady environs of Woolworths in Croydon. There would be several coaches from different estates in the shop. God it was amazing. For a young child it was totally mind blowing. The stuff they had! Of course we had a Woolies in Brixton but the Croydon one was utopia. Fabulous memories of it.

Agatha the BHS Country Vine was the epitome of good crockery in my circles. The first dining service in ever had was Pyrex Iris in 1987, but after a promotion I graduated to Country Vine and I had two sets so 8 place settings. I had made it! Friends who settled years later all went for Denby, but I was so happy with my £45 for 4 place settings Country Vine.
I recently found a Country Vine teapot in the back of a cupboard at work.

Just had a look on ebay and there's lots of country vine for sale. Still looks nice now.

I still have some of my BHS Country Vine tableware in daily use, it's over 30 years old now. I broke the milk jug a couple of years ago & was so happy when I tracked one down on eBay.

I loved BHS, so sad when it folded.

It was amazing. I worked there during those years, staff dedicated so much time to setting "Christmas shop" up, we loved it tho it was incredibly hard work in retail at Christmas. Or any time of the year tbh!

No! BHS was always the epitome of naff, even when I was a child.

It was, to my mum, the poor man's M&S.

Welshtart

That has made me really emotional- a very similar experience for me- without the Dad bit!

And to the poster who said they had stuff we had only previously seen in films like gingerbread houses and candy canes- that is exactly right- that's captured what I meant!

Ooh I feel all weepy and nostalgic now

I found the best ever Christmas present cardigan for my mother (very old with dementia) in good old BHS. Machine washable and tumble dryable (she was in a care home by then), really big, non-fiddly buttons, and two pockets - she did like pockets, And in a nice, soft, non-garish red. Regardless of price I never found anything else so suitable.
Despite very frequent washing it lasted for ages.

The other memorable BHS Christmas thing (from the daft tat dept.) was a tinselly 'bra' that went over your top. There was a squeezy bulb at the back, and when you squeezed it, two of those squeaky rolled up paper things shot out from the 'nipples'.

Caused a lot of hilarity in our house since every time anyone did it, guest-friends' little Westie would go into a frenzy of barking, jumping up and trying to kill the fiendish things.