First up, the giants. IKEA? Closed. They’re too busy assembling their own peace and quiet (and probably fighting over the last meatball). You can’t even think about wandering through that maze of showrooms; the Swedish furniture overlords have declared a public holiday for their employees.
M&S (Marks & Spencer) is a hard pass on Boxing Day. They’re not messing around with "reduced to clear" Christmas puddings if it means making their staff work. You’ll have to dream about those Percy Pig gummies until the 27th. I know, it’s a national crisis, but we’ll survive.
And don’t even think about John Lewis. Their motto is "never knowingly undersold," but on Boxing Day, they’re "never knowingly open." They give their team the day off to recover from the festive frenzy. It’s almost noble, isn’t it? Very British.
Supermarkets: The Heroes We Don’t Deserve (But Also, Nope)
Okay, so you really do need milk. Let’s talk supermarkets. Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda—the holy trinity of grocery—are usually shut on Boxing Day. All of them. Every single one. Your local corner shop might be your only hope, and even then, they’ll probably charge you £3 for a pint of semi-skimmed. Morrisons? Same deal. Locked doors, empty car parks, tumbleweeds rolling by.
Wait, there’s a tiny loophole: some smaller convenience stores attached to petrol stations might be open. But it’s a gamble. You’ll be squinting through the window like a secret agent, trying to see if the light is on. Spoiler: it’s usually off.
