An Asda colleague has been spreading festive spirit across Carlisle as December sees her alter ego, Mrs Christmas, take centre aisle in the Carlisle superstore.
Neiliann Robinson has worked at Asda for Asda Carlisle for over ten years and for the last five of those has become very well known throughout the local community for her infectious personality and Christmas shenanigans.
For the last five years, each day for the month of December, Neiliann adds a festive adornment to her uniform, with everything from tinsel and baubles to fairy lights and even Christmas stockings becoming part of her eccentric and festive outfits.
She’s so well known that customers will come in and specifically ask to see the colleague with the crazy outfits, with requests coming in as early as October to see Neiliann in her Mrs Christmas glory.
Neiliann, front-end colleague at Asda Carlisle, said: “My Mrs Christmas alter-ego came about around five years ago when another colleague dared me to wear something daft and festive for work one day. As you can imagine, it has escalated somewhat since then.
“I love Christmas and I’m most definitely a people person, so for me to be able to spread a bit of light hearted festive joy to our customers and get them cracking smiles and laughing is just wonderful.
“I try to mix it up a bit each year and add something I’ve not added before. I hand sew all the embellishments and decorations on, and I even have an assortment of festive hats to match. The green Christmas tree cone is a personal favourite.
“I’ll get customers coming into store just to see me and my wacky outfits. It’s become something of an institution for the store now.”
Asda Carlisle’s community colleague, Niki Iveson, said; “Everyone knows Neiliann in the local community and she’s such a joy to have around, particularly in December.
“I think if she ever stopped being Mrs Christmas, there’d be a petition for her to bring it back as customers come to expect it now.”
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