Shops targeted to stop them selling Christmas cards early

Three charity shops and a newsagents in Leeds in the North of England have been targeted by a mysterious group calling itself the ‘Movement for the Containment of Xmas’ which calls upon shops to stop selling Christmas cards so far ahead of Christmas.

All the shops, in the Headingly district of Leeds in North Yorkshire, received anonymous letters and one of them had its front door lock filled with glue, according to a report in the Yorkshire Evening Post. Two of them had Christmas cards on sale and one intended to begin selling them the day after it was targeted. The newsagents plans to begin selling them in November. The manageress of the Mind shop, a mental health charity outlet, found her shop’s door glued up and had to replace it at a cost of £100. She received an anonymous phone call later in the day from a man who said her shop had been hit because it was guilty of selling Christmas cards “far too early” before going on to add that “If we pass the shop and we see you are still selling Christmas cards we will glue the lock up until the cards are removed. There are a team of us that are against charity shops selling Christmas cards so early." The manageress said that she had removed her Christmas cards from sale for now, regretting that “This is great pity as we have been selling off last year's stock and making £70 a week for the charity.” The local Oxfam shop received a threatening letter which also boasted about the attack on the Mind shop. It was pushed through the shop’s letterbox and the poster was filmed by CCTV cameras. The shop’s manager, Clive Barker, said that the man looked like the "grim reaper." Mr. Barker said he could continue to sell his Christmas cards because they were a big fund-raiser for many projects for deserving groups all over the world, and remarked that “When this happens, you get to wonder what you will find next when you arrive for work." He did admit however that he had been selling Christmas cards since early August and that “it may be a little early, but we have to compete with and mirror what high street traders do.” The newsagents manager said that he did not see why people should be dictated to in that way and that he would not be deterred from putting his cards on sale. Gemma Ravenshall is the manageress of the PDSA ‘People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals’ charity shop, which also received a letter. She said that her cards would go on sale as planned, adding that ."We know it may seem early to sell Christmas cards, but so many people do. They are an important income to our charity." A spokesman for the local Police confirmed that they had received complaints concerning the shops and that they were investigating them.