We ask seven readers what would make their perfect present this year
"If there was one thing that I could wish for this Christmas, it would be for the Competition Commission to get a bit of sense and really think about how important local stores are to their communities.
"I would like them to rethink their thoughts about the impact that the big four supermarkets are having on Britain's high streets, and put a stop to it before it's too late.
"There is a village not far from me which used to be thriving, but now that Tesco has arrived it has become a ghost town. If we are not careful this situation will be repeated across the country. Small stores have so much to offer the community. They can support local suppliers and provide shoppers with much higher levels of customer service than they would receive in a supermarket."
"If I could wish for one thing this Christmas it would be to have a new ceiling for my store - one of those fancy low ones with hidden lighting. That would look great! I have just finished refurbishing the inside of my store with new shelving, counters and point of sale material and it looks absolutely fantastic. However, I still have the old ceiling - it's workable, but not that great to look at. A new floor wouldn't go amiss either, just to give the whole store the wow factor."
"My wish for 2008 would be to have a more caring society, and I mean this in two different ways. First, I would like people to care more about the environment and to try to find ways to be kinder to it, whether it be by recycling more, or walking or cycling rather than taking the car for short trips.
"My second wish would be for people to care more about each other, and to think much harder about the impact that their actions have on others. Too many staff are verbally abused by customers when all they are doing is their job. People don't realise, or simply don't care, about how upsetting this is for workers and for other shoppers. It's wrong and it has to stop."
"After a new Bentley, my Christmas wish would be for smaller stores to receive greater support from manufacturers so that we could better compete with the big boys. At this time of year the supermarkets sell alcohol at such low prices that we could never hope to match. For example, I've just seen that Asda is selling a 1ltr bottle of Famous Grouse whisky for £9. How can I possibly compete with that? You can't even get it that cheap in duty-free shops. The ironic thing is that even if by some magic I did manage to match Asda's price, my customers still probably wouldn't buy it from me as they would assume that it was sourced on the black market or was counterfeit! And they say it's local stores that cause binge drinking. I don't think so!"
"My ultimate Christmas wish would be for the supermarkets to have less of a say in everything. They seem to be opening up all over the place with such ease. It's as though they have the government and local councils in their pockets.
"A 24-hour Asda has just opened up near my store and it seems to me that almost everything possible was done to help them do so. A new road was even built to lead up to the store. We just can't compete against that.
"In the New Year I'm going to do everything in my power to create a real point of difference between my store and Asda.
"I'm going to focus on delivering more services for my customers and improving my food to go and convenience offer which the big boys can't seem to do as well."
"My sincere Christmas wish for the year to come is for people to appreciate their local convenience store more. I'd like people to wake up to the differences between us and the supermarkets. I wish people would show more loyalty to c-store retailers who are there to serve the community and do the best they can in the face of fierce and unfair competition from the supermarkets.
"Unfortunately, I expected no different from the recent findings of the Competition Commission. They don't seem to have the guts to stand up to the supermarkets and so far it's been a complete waste of tax payers' money. We need people to stand up for us. All I want to be able to do is compete fairly."
"My Christmas wish would be to offer the National Lottery in my store. Before the lottery was even launched, Camelot visited my store and said that we fitted all the necessary criteria. They even marked where the terminal would go.
However, when it came to installation time we were told that there weren't any terminals left, but to try again when they installed the next batch.
"I've applied to Camelot so many times. I've even organised a petition but the message always comes back the same - 'no spare terminals'.
"I have a great store and offer every other service imaginable. During all this time Camelot has installed terminals in the local sub post office and in a new Somerfield store.
"Please Father Christmas, send me a National Lottery terminal. I promise to be a really good shopkeeper, and I will sell loads of lottery tickets to help raise money for good causes! My second wish would be to win the jackpot, so if you could also send me just one set of winning numbers!"
Jinx Hundal Budgens, Sheringham, Norfolk
"If there was one thing that I could wish for this Christmas, it would be for the Competition Commission to get a bit of sense and really think about how important local stores are to their communities.
"I would like them to rethink their thoughts about the impact that the big four supermarkets are having on Britain's high streets, and put a stop to it before it's too late.
"There is a village not far from me which used to be thriving, but now that Tesco has arrived it has become a ghost town. If we are not careful this situation will be repeated across the country. Small stores have so much to offer the community. They can support local suppliers and provide shoppers with much higher levels of customer service than they would receive in a supermarket."
Lacky Chhina Stamford News, Brierley Hill, West Midlands
"If I could wish for one thing this Christmas it would be to have a new ceiling for my store - one of those fancy low ones with hidden lighting. That would look great! I have just finished refurbishing the inside of my store with new shelving, counters and point of sale material and it looks absolutely fantastic. However, I still have the old ceiling - it's workable, but not that great to look at. A new floor wouldn't go amiss either, just to give the whole store the wow factor."
Chris Sharrinton Spar, Helston, Cornwall
"My wish for 2008 would be to have a more caring society, and I mean this in two different ways. First, I would like people to care more about the environment and to try to find ways to be kinder to it, whether it be by recycling more, or walking or cycling rather than taking the car for short trips.
"My second wish would be for people to care more about each other, and to think much harder about the impact that their actions have on others. Too many staff are verbally abused by customers when all they are doing is their job. People don't realise, or simply don't care, about how upsetting this is for workers and for other shoppers. It's wrong and it has to stop."
Pinda Cheema Costcutter, Coventry
"After a new Bentley, my Christmas wish would be for smaller stores to receive greater support from manufacturers so that we could better compete with the big boys. At this time of year the supermarkets sell alcohol at such low prices that we could never hope to match. For example, I've just seen that Asda is selling a 1ltr bottle of Famous Grouse whisky for £9. How can I possibly compete with that? You can't even get it that cheap in duty-free shops. The ironic thing is that even if by some magic I did manage to match Asda's price, my customers still probably wouldn't buy it from me as they would assume that it was sourced on the black market or was counterfeit! And they say it's local stores that cause binge drinking. I don't think so!"
Andy Patel Budgens, Virginia Quays, London
"My ultimate Christmas wish would be for the supermarkets to have less of a say in everything. They seem to be opening up all over the place with such ease. It's as though they have the government and local councils in their pockets.
"A 24-hour Asda has just opened up near my store and it seems to me that almost everything possible was done to help them do so. A new road was even built to lead up to the store. We just can't compete against that.
"In the New Year I'm going to do everything in my power to create a real point of difference between my store and Asda.
"I'm going to focus on delivering more services for my customers and improving my food to go and convenience offer which the big boys can't seem to do as well."
Bhoo Patel The Philog Stores, Whitchurch, Cardiff
"My sincere Christmas wish for the year to come is for people to appreciate their local convenience store more. I'd like people to wake up to the differences between us and the supermarkets. I wish people would show more loyalty to c-store retailers who are there to serve the community and do the best they can in the face of fierce and unfair competition from the supermarkets.
"Unfortunately, I expected no different from the recent findings of the Competition Commission. They don't seem to have the guts to stand up to the supermarkets and so far it's been a complete waste of tax payers' money. We need people to stand up for us. All I want to be able to do is compete fairly."
Bob Gibson Elmwood Stores, Basingstoke, Hampshire
"My Christmas wish would be to offer the National Lottery in my store. Before the lottery was even launched, Camelot visited my store and said that we fitted all the necessary criteria. They even marked where the terminal would go.
However, when it came to installation time we were told that there weren't any terminals left, but to try again when they installed the next batch.
"I've applied to Camelot so many times. I've even organised a petition but the message always comes back the same - 'no spare terminals'.
"I have a great store and offer every other service imaginable. During all this time Camelot has installed terminals in the local sub post office and in a new Somerfield store.
"Please Father Christmas, send me a National Lottery terminal. I promise to be a really good shopkeeper, and I will sell loads of lottery tickets to help raise money for good causes! My second wish would be to win the jackpot, so if you could also send me just one set of winning numbers!"
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