Chaplins are keeping the sparkle in Christmas

IF you think Christmas has lost its sparkle, you clearly haven't stepped foot inside Chaplins in Plympton.

- By LEWIS CLARKE

This independent, family-run superstore doesn’t just sell Christmas-it lives and breathes it. With a Santa’s Grotto that began humbly in a garden shed and has now become a local legend, Chaplins is where the festive season comes to life in full colour, glitter, and joy.

But for Linda Chaplin, who co-owns the business with her daughter Vanessa, it's never been about just selling thousands of baubles and wrapping paper.

“I like to give people selection and I like to tell a story,’ she says. “I just don’t want one theme - I want to give you luxury for less.”

That passion for variety is something you feel immediately when you walk through the doors. From the main store, brimming with over 65,000 discounted products, to the expansive garden centre, Bowlers Café, and a Christmas shop that stays open year-round, Chaplins is nothing short of an Aladdin’s Cave.

And Linda’s right to call it that - this is a place where you'll find everything from luxury hotel pillows and Crown interior paint to pansies, pebbles, pet supplies and party gear. It's a store that’s grown organically over the last six decades by following no script but instinct and customer need.

“I haven’t got a plan for anything,” Linda admits. “Everything just evolves as it needs to, and because it's family owned, we can use our own intuition to spot trends and implement new ideas quickly.”

It’s this sense of evolution that has shaped Chaplins’ remarkable journey from a DIY supplier to one of the region’s best-known Christmas destinations. What started 40 years ago with a simple Father Christmas upstairs in a chair turned into a full-fledged grotto, complete with a magical walkway. “We didn’t like the idea of just coming in, sitting on Father Christmas’s lap and taking a present,’ says Linda. “We take them on a journey.”