Until the tragedy in the US, I expected an increase in pre Christmas sales but it's made everyone edgy and cautious about spending money. But I've always been positive about this time of year. We've already got our Christmas stock in as far as special packs are concerned and they are out now to show people what we've got. Booker is supportive at Christmas and my drinks suppliers are good at putting money towards my Christmas advertising. We change our store drastically at Christmas. For the first time we've bought mobile shelving which we can adjust. We can build displays and push them where we want, which is good when you are restricted on space. We normally compete with the multiples but it's difficult at Christmas when they go potty. It's the best time of the year to sell, but we all have this philosophy that we have to give it away. It's very difficult for an independent to buy because when you think you're going to have a cracking Christmas, you instantly have egg on your face if the big boys give it away. Multipacks have always sold well and we are very competitively priced. Stella Artois and Foster's 24-packs are our bestsellers. Foster's outperformed Stella Artois last year but only because they were giving Stella away at the supermarkets." {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}