Courtesy Christmas Place
For most Americans, the Christmas shopping season kicks off on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. But for holiday-lovers and other avid shoppers who know where to look, Christmas shopping can take place at any time of year.
In Wisconsin, Michigan and Tennessee, for example, year-round Christmas shops offer visitors a wealth of options in gifts, ornaments, collectibles, home decor and other holiday items. The stores have become popular stops on group tour itineraries, giving travelers a chance to get their Christmas fixes, no matter what time of year they visit.
If your group members are serious shoppers, they might also enjoy a shopping trip during the holiday season at special Christmas markets and other events around the country.
Kristmas Kringle Shoppe
Fond du Lac, Wis.
In central Wisconsin, the Kristmas Kringle Shoppe grew out of one family’s office and school supply company. Today, the store is known as much for its decor as its merchandise.
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| Courtesy Kristmas Kringle Shoppe |
“The whole inside of the shop is based on walking through a German town,” said manager Mary Grace Murray. “The upstairs is lined with houses, with rooflines representing all of Europe.”
Throughout the year, the store is also decorated with 70 themed Christmas trees displaying various items that are for sale. The themes range from rockets and robots to ice crystals, birds and gourmet items, which include wine glasses and high-end coffee.
Murray said that some of the most popular items for sale are Fontanini Nativity sets from Italy.
“They do all their own sculpting over there,” she said. “It has become a cottage industry over there, where different families paint all of the individual figures for the Nativity.”
Christmas Place
Pigeon Forge, Tenn.
Bolstered by the healthy tourism business in the Smoky Mountains, Christmas Place has grown from a simple gift shop to a complex that includes a 25,000-square-foot sales floor, a holiday restaurant and a themed inn.
“We sell a lot of collectibles, music boxes, Christopher Radko and Old World ornaments,” said Janet Donaldson, marketing developer at Christmas Place. “We also do a lot of custom floral, where guests come in and choose their own colors and flowers.”
Guests visiting the store can have their pictures taken with the “Singing Santa,” who gives musical performances in the store and hotel throughout the day. They can also check out some of the 50 Christmas trees that are redecorated every year or see the 20-foot-tall decorated tree in the restaurant’s grand hall.
Across the street at the inn, public areas and suites feature Christmas themes, including Dickens characters and jolly bears from the Smoky Mountains.
Bethlehem Christkindlmarkt
Bethlehem, Pa.
Bethlehem, Pa., was founded by Moravians, a religious group from Germany, on Christmas Eve 1741. Every year, on the weekends between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the community celebrates that heritage with a German-style Christkindlmarkt.
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| Courtesy ArtsQuest |
“We have 75 artisans each weekend specializing in Christmas ornaments and handmade fine art,” said Mark Demko, spokesman for event organizer ArtsQuest. “It’s a juried process, and they come from all across the United States — some come from as far away as Alaska.”
About 50,000 people attend the Christmas market every year, where they find stained glass, handmade jewelry, beeswax ornaments, oil paintings and a host of other collectibles and home decor items. The event also features traditional German foods, a German St. Nicholas, ice carvings and glassblowing demonstrations, all accompanied by musical entertainment.
“We have a variety of music taking place,” Demko said. “You’ll find everything from acoustic performances to a high school choir to a German band.”
Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland
Frankenmuth, Mich.
Since 1954, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland has been a 12-month holiday retailer. With more than 50,000 items in stock and a footprint the size of five and a half football fields, it has become the biggest Christmas store in the country.
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| Courtesy Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland |
The most popular items sold there are the custom-made Christmas tree ornaments.
“We have about 6,000 styles of ornaments that you can’t find anywhere else,” said communications assistant Lori Libka. “A lot of them are Bronner’s exclusive design.”
In addition to the ornaments, the store sells more than 500 styles of Nativity scenes, ranging in size from walnut-shell miniatures to full-scale castings of human figures.
A highlight of the store for groups is a visit to the Silent Night Chapel, a full-scale replica of the Oberndorf Chapel near Salzburg, Austria. The chapel features musical recordings of “Silent Night” and signposts with the first verse of the song written in more than 300 languages.
