Inside the magical Christmas shop on Sunderland's doorstep, with themed igloos, life-size Santas and more

TCL Christmas opens from October 24, with private igloos that can be hired by its shoppers, giant Santas, polar bears, thousands of baubles and more.

The pop-up seasonal shop has taken over the showroom site at TCL, who specialise in commercial fit outs and residential interior design, working with some of the area’s most well-known venues like Mackie’s Corner and Port of Call in Sunderland and Ebony champagne bar and The Drunken Duck in Durham.

Christmas is a busy time of year for the Seaham company who do bespoke decorations for people’s homes, from Wynyard up to Newcastle, and this year they decided to jingle all the way with a glittering, twinkling Christmas experience for shoppers.

There’s seven themed rooms to browse: the Hallmark movie Christmas themed coffee shop complete with festive truck, a monochrome room, a Champagne and rose gold room, a traditional room, diamonds dining room, a Nordic room and a Nordic sparkle room.

As well as festive hot chocolates and cakes, shoppers at the site in Cold Hesledon Industrial Estate, can hire themed igloos, one traditional and one Nordic, for them and their friends where they can enjoy mocktails and a sweet treat sharing platter.

Julie Barnes, who owns TCL with brother Graham Robson, travels the world for interior trade shows and to meet suppliers and she says this is a great way to showcase their decor finds.

The businesswoman said: “We celebrate all the seasons with our interior design business and decided to really make the best of Christmas. We always like to do something a bit different.

“We travel all over the world for shows and a lot of the stock here you won’t find elsewhere. Thanks to things like Instagram, people really go all out for Christmas these days and our bespoke service, doing everything from doorway garlands to a full house decor, is really popular.

“People like that they can go to work and come back and the house is fully decorated, with no hassle for them.”

The shop, which will be open seven days a week, takes on extra staff at Christmas and Julie says it’s great to be part of the build up to the big day.

“It’s very glittery working in a Christmas shop and we’re usually all still finding glitter until March. But we love it, it’s a real team effort and we have the same staff coming back every year.

“We have built up a really loyal following and we run a Christmas Club so people can save with us, then come and spend their Christmas vouchers.”

Baubles start from £2 with the most expensive pieces being the bespoke items and giant Santas.

The two outdoor igloos are a new addition this year and can be booked at £19 per person for anyone over 12-years-old, with groups from four to eight people.

Shoppers can enjoy the igloo for an hour and bring their own fizz.

:: TCL Christmas will be open from October 24 to mid December Monday to Thursday from 10am to 5pm, Friday from 10am to 4pm, Saturday from 10am to 5pm and Sunday from 11am to 4pm. Free parking is available on site.