Father Christmas is upping his fee in 2019.
Harrods has announced that families who want to visit its Christmas grotto, where children can meet Santa, must spend a minimum of £2,000 in the luxury department store to be able to do so this year.
When Harrods first opened its grotto in 1955, the experience was free – but in 2019, parents must shell out £20 per child (in addition to the in-store shopping spree).
One regular visitor accused the Knightsbridge store of ‘behaving like the Grinch who stole Christmas’ by only allowing customers who can afford the exorbitant minimum spend to enter the festive space.
Following further anger from shoppers for being shut out from the Swarovski crystal-encrusted grotto, Harrods decided to also allow 160 families the chance to visit by only paying the £20 entry fee.
These families were selected through a ‘wishing well’, with 10 names chosen each day.
‘Harrods is behaving like the Grinch who stole Christmas,’ 40-year-old James Browne, 40, told The Guardian.
The father-of-four has been making the journey to Harrods with his 15-year-old son Toby since the boy was a baby.
‘They have lost the true meaning of Christmas and given into the commercialisation of the season. Visiting Father Christmas shouldn’t be reserved for those that are fortunate enough to frequent the store and spend thousands of pounds.
‘A visit to Father Christmas at a magical shop like Harrods should be for all,” said Browne, a marketing director from Worcester Park, south-west London.
‘I think the owners need to have a long hard look at the longer-term impact on their business for the thousands of children who won’t grow up with a fond feeling for the store.’
A spokeswoman for Harrods told The Guardian that the reason for the £2,000 spend minimum is due to high demand and a lack of slots.
‘Each year, we are overwhelmed by requests for this special experience, which we make every effort to facilitate,’ she said.
‘We care hugely about making a visit to the Grotto as magical as possible, and tickets are extremely limited due to the number of slots we can facilitate in-store.
‘Unfortunately, we simply cannot meet the demand for places.
‘The Harrods Christmas Grotto is offered by invitation only to Harrods Rewards customers in recognition of their loyal custom throughout the year.
‘Due to demand, we invite Harrods Rewards customers who are Green tier 2 and above the opportunity to book tickets.
‘This year, Harrods wanted to offer all visitors to the store the chance win complimentary tickets to the Harrods Christmas Grotto. A “Wishing Well” appeared … 10 winners per day were drawn from the Wishing Well; and the winners were each awarded one of the 160 booking slots.’
We have contacted Harrods for comment and this piece will be updated once a reply is received.
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source https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/11/harrods-closes-off-christmas-grotto-customers-spend-less-2000-11077762/
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