--- title: John Lewis the Store Sent a Nice Gift to John Lewis the Man description: The British retail store sent a holiday gift package to the American man who shares the store's name and often fields mistaken messages. canonical: https://time.com/4571504/john-lewis-gifts/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-15T16:41:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:38:41.347Z og:title: John Lewis the Store Sent a Nice Gift to John Lewis the Man og:description: The British department store sent a custom gift to the man with the same name. og:url: https://time.com/4571504/john-lewis-gifts/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: John Lewis the Store Sent a Nice Gift to John Lewis the Man twitter:description: The British department store sent a custom gift to the man with the same name. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # That Man Who People Think Is a Department Store Just Got the Perfect Holiday Gift  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 15, 2016 4:41 PM UTC  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Nov 15, 2016 4:41 PM UTC British manners are impeccable. Here’s proof: a Virginia man who shares a name with [a popular British department store](http://time.com/4566033/john-lewis-christmas-advert-2016/?iid=sr-link1)—and who went viral after [fielding messages](http://time.com/4566624/patient-man-happy-to-engage-with-everyone-who-thinks-hes-a-popular-store/?iid=sr-link2) sent to his personal Twitter account by mistake—received a personalized holiday gift from the retail chain. It came complete with a custom-embroidered cushion that pokes fun at his tongue-in-cheek Twitter bio. His Twitter bio reads: “Computer science educator, father of four, social liberal, atheist, and not a retail store,” hence the personalized message on the cushion. (The pillow, he noted later, is “such high quality.”) > [](https://twitter.com/johnlewis/status/798539700625690624) The full gift package included stuffed animals of the characters in this year’s runaway success Christmas ad from the store, plus other cheer-inducing treats to keep spirits high: > [](https://twitter.com/johnlewis/status/798540205875662849) The store’s sweet holiday ad has been a hit this year, and Lewis has been dealing patiently with a giant influx of tweets and comments. His responses are unfailingly witty and appropriate, making him something of an internet hero. Looks like his saintlike patience with the mistaken mentions is finally paying off this season, even if his personal productivity has really taken a hit. > [](https://twitter.com/johnlewis/status/798168545309982720) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4571504/john-lewis-gifts/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4571504/john-lewis-gifts/"},"headline":"That Man Who People Think Is a Department Store Just Got the Perfect Holiday Gift","datePublished":"2016-11-15T16:41:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:38:41.347Z","description":"Spreading holiday cheer across the pond","url":"https://time.com/4571504/john-lewis-gifts/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Retail","Internet","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Raisa Bruner","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4571504/john-lewis-gifts/","name":"That Man Who People Think Is a Department Store Just Got the Perfect Holiday Gift"}}]}] ```