It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas . . . well, it was for me last week.

On one of the hottest days of the year I was transported to a winter wonderland courtesy of Poundland.

The company – which has a store in Westgate in Oxford city centre, as well as branches in Abingdon, Bicester, Aylesbury and Banbury – was showcasing its offerings for the festive season.

The cut-price retailer’s goodies for Christmas 2013 were presented to members of the media at the London event in a Covent Garden club. Walking in to the temporary showroom, you could have been in a trendy interior design store.

Five themed collections – Precious Metals, Winter Wonderland, Nordic, Vintage and Brights – were shown off in room settings, along with displays of gifts and other festive items.

A table setting wouldn’t have looked out of place on the pages of a glossy magazine.

Members of the Poundland team were keen to push the message “An affordable Christmas for all” and they proved that it’s not (always) what you pay for an item, it’s how you use it.

Poundland tends to split shoppers in to two distinct camps: those who wouldn’t be seen dead in one of their stores; and those who have more sense than money.

There’s no denying that some of the products are a load of old tat – I recently managed to break an umbrella between paying for it and getting to the door – but there are some great bargains to be found.

And more attention is being paid to style with a team dedicated to product and package design. “Some people think of Poundland like it was five or six years ago,” said senior buyer Bethan Davies. “There is so much more we do now.”

If you look past the jumble of hundreds of items packed together in store and think how they could be used in your home, you can have a cracking Christmas display without breaking the bank.

And the great thing is, those of your friends who think Poundland is only for the hard-up or cheapskates and don’t go in there won’t know where you got your beautiful baubles from – and those who do will applaud you for your good sense.

ON THE WAY OTHER recent Christmas showcases included: LAKELAND Lakeland, which has stores in Witney and Bicester and can be bought online at www.lakeland.co.uk, has a host of new ranges for the autumn and winter including a bonkers – but brilliant – Dr Who baking range. A slice of Dalek, vicar?

ALDI The discount supermarket, which has a store on Botley Road, Oxford, and branches in Bicester and Aylesbury, offers some surprisingly upmarket products. Look out this Christmas for huge free range turkeys and whole Serrano hams. Prices are still to be finalised but are likely to come in around £35 and £50 respectively. Excellent value. Also of note is the store’s year-round range of award-winning wines and spirits. MORRISONS Last month it was revealed that Morrisons was planning a move to Oxford (it already has branches in Witney and Aylesbury) and if the planned Christmas fare is anything to go by, let’s hope it happens. What was particularly impressive at its Christmas in July event – apart from the reindeer bread and smoked tenderloin - was the passion of its department heads for offering great, fresh food at keen prices.

DIVERTIMENTI Need a gift for the foodie who has everything? Classy cookware store Divertimenti (http://www.divertimenti.co.uk) was showcasing a range of gift ideas which covered even the best equipped home chefs. A baguette guillotine or sword for knocking champagne corks, anyone?

WHY SO SOON?

For a couple of weeks around this time of year major retailers hold Christmas in July media events. But don’t worry, they won’t be stocking the shelves with festive fare for a good few months.

“It’s done because magazines plan so early and start featuring Christmas items in issues which come out in September or October,” said Bethan Davies, senior buyer at Poundland. “There’s a clamour to get journalists here to see what we are doing.”

Now Bethan is already thinking about Christmas 2014.

“A lot of customers don’t realise it takes a year or more to get things on the shelves,” she said.

From mid October Bethan will be taking a look at launches of Christmas products and having meetings with suppliers to find out their trend predictions.

She’ll travel to the Far East and India in January to talk about manufacturing. “I may take a product that cost £5 and tell them I need it to sell for £1,” said Bethan. “I work with suppliers on materials and packaging, sometimes reducing sizes, so I can offer customers the same look for £1.

“We take an upper high street look and let people achieve it for £1.”

Orders are placed in March and by July goods are “on the water” being shipped to England.

Christmas really is on the way.