The Corner Market sisters have had a busy Christmas week.
It's their third year working the Christmas holidays since buying the shop in 2019, and they said every year it gets busier.
From Tillys' donuts to feeding hoards of tradies and office workers on the lunchtime rush, sisters Katherine, Rebeca and Veronica know how to put a smile on your face no matter the day's challenge.
This Christmas, they've baked special Christmas-themed doughnuts and, despite most offices being on holiday, they want to make sure Canberra's important workers have a place to grab a feed on Christmas Day.
The sisters celebrate a South American Christmas which means a midnight dinner on Christmas Eve or, as they like to call it in Chile, Nochebuena.
Nochebuena is a midnight dinner that spills into early Christmas Day; the sisters say the dinner will involve a lot of dancing, but they won't get too rowdy as they promised to keep the shop open for Christmas Day.
The bottle shop, cafe and supermarket will stay open.
Katherine said Canberrans can join the Latin festivities with some Chilean Pisco.
"The cafe will be open at 9am, and the bottle shop will stay open until 7pm so if you need extra booze for the holidays please visit," Ms Sotomayor said.
"We're also catering for parties - if anyone needs something special we're happy to make that."
Just down the road at The Pharmacy on Northbourne, pharmacist Chris Lawler and his staff are gearing up for a busy holiday season.
There's no rest for the busy city pharmacists.
Canberrans and visitors from all walks of life, from tired travellers to city workers searching for a migraine cure, enter the pharmacy.
"We're also really busy with the prescription of the oral contraceptive pill; women can come in get their oral contraceptive pill without having to go to their GP," Mr Lawler said.
While the worst days of the pandemic seem well and truly over, Mr Lawler said the pharmacy was still involved in vaccinations and that the start of 2024 would be busy with the beginning of the National Immunisation Program. Mr Lawler said getting a flu shot would be the perfect way to avoid getting sick during the holidays.
"A lot of people from out of town that might be visiting family members in Canberra, and some of them forget their medicine, and we're just that accessible point of contact in health care for people of the holidays," he said.
Mr Lawler won't be going on break soon and will celebrate Christmas with his work family.
"I'll take a break when everyone else is back at work and school holidays are finished; we're here every day of the year, so I'll go away when it gets a little bit quieter," Mr Lawler said.
Kebab chef Ugur Kocak is busy ordering extra doner and preparing fresh Mediterranean dips for his hungry customers over the holiday season.
The part-time MMA fighter and full-time chef said the Ottoman banquet and his new camel burger had been the crowd favourites this year, and he's in good supply over the holidays.
While he doesn't celebrate Christmas, Mr Kocak said his Turkish Baklava would be the perfect dessert for any Christmas dinner.
"My doors are always open for the good people of Belconnen, and I just hope everyone stays safe over the Christmas holidays, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone in the new year," Mr Kocak said.
