Recession or no recession, the Christmas spirit is already upon us, as sales clearly indicate. UK department Store John Lewis has set a new sales record this weekend, which has prompted many to talk of very high spending on High Street in the week to come, and of how Biscuit the Animatronic Dog is the must-have of the season if we’re also talking children, the Daily Express notes.

“The retailer saw sales of £110million in the period to Saturday, smashing the record achieved in the previous week. Gift-buying stepped up a gear, with fashion, watches and sewing machines all snapped up by festive shoppers. Gaming and toys were also seeing their traditional Christmas surge, with Biscuit, the animatronic dog, proving a favorite for the store,” the British publication notes.

With this, retailers in the UK (and not only) are preparing for a sales-strong week, up to Christmas. The popularity of toys and Christmas decorations shows, though, that Britons’ tastes have seen a slight alteration this past year in that they’re only spending their hard-earned money on items they deem “necessary” at this point, it is being said. Thus, after Biscuit, the other popular items at John Lewis are the YSL Touche Eclat makeup, the Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish, silver napkin rings and the Nintendo Wii console in black.

“Overall, sales were more than eight per cent up on the chain’s biggest seven days in 2007, which until last week had been its all-time record. But the stampede to the stores will start in earnest this week, with experts predicting that prices will plummet before Christmas. Last-minute bargain hunters will get the biggest reductions as stores hold out as long as possible to offer deepest discounts,” the above mentioned publication says.

Priced at almost £100, Biscuit is said to be the closest thing to a real-life dog ever created, minus the trouble of midnight walks and potty training. It can bark in three different tones to show its mood, it can wag its tail and interact with the child like a real pup also would.