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Bronner's Christmas Wonderland

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Coordinates: 43°18′50″N 83°44′13″W / 43.31389°N 83.73694°W / 43.31389; -83.73694
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Sign at the entrance to Christmas Lane

Bronner's Christmas Wonderland (stylized BRONNER'S CHRISTmas WONDERLAND) is a retail store in Frankenmuth, Michigan, that promotes itself as the "World's Largest Christmas Store".[1]

Designed with an Alpine architecture (see chalet), the building is 7.35 acres (2.97 ha) in size with landscaped grounds covering 27 acres (11 ha).[citation needed] Outside the entrance are three 17-foot-tall (5.2 m) outdoor Santa Claus's and a 15-foot-tall (4.6 m) snowman.[citation needed] Inside the store, there are approximately 800 animated figurines.[citation needed] Some 100,000 lights illuminate Bronner's one-half-mile-long (0.80 km) Christmas Lane.[citation needed] Michigan designated Bronner's as an "Embassy for Michigan Tourism" in 1976.[citation needed] Bronner's employs over 500 people during the holiday season (between October and Christmas).[citation needed]

The west entrance to Bronner's Christmas Wonderland
Tableau at the west entrance (June 2019)

Founded in 1945 by Wally Bronner, Bronner's Christmas Wonderland is visited annually by over two million people,[citation needed] with the weekend after Thanksgiving being the busiest of the year with over 50,000 visitors.[citation needed] Its inventory exceeds 50,000 items,[citation needed] including Christmas ornaments, artificial Christmas trees, Christmas lights, Nativity scenes, Christmas decorations, collectibles, and similar goods.[citation needed] Each year, approximately 600,000 glass ornaments, 530,000 feet (160,000 m) of garland, 150,000 postcards and 86,000 light sets (nearly 530 miles [850 km] of light cords) are sold.[citation needed] Bronner's has the exclusive right to sell Precious Moments Christmas-themed figurines.

With the government of Austria's permission and in keeping with the German theme of Frankenmuth itself, Bronner's built a replica of the Oberndorf, Austria, Silent Night Memorial Chapel in 1992 as a tribute to the Christmas hymn "Silent Night".[citation needed]

Wally Bronner, 81, died on April 1, 2008.[2]

Bronner's was vandalized on Christmas Day in 2010, with some 75 store displays damaged or destroyed. Five men pleaded guilty to the crime, which involved an estimated $40,000 in damage.[3]

In 2018, there were over 350 decorated Christmas trees inside and products from 70 countries in the 320,000 square foot building.[4]

Irene Bronner died on October 16, 2022, at the age of 95.[5]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bronner's Official Website
  2. ^ "Frankenmuth's Christmas king Bronner dies at 81". The Detroit News. April 2, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2008.[permanent dead link]
  3. ^ Hoag, Andy (March 31, 2011). "4 of 5 Bronner's vandals to spend summer in jail". MLive.
  4. ^ "18 Things You Didn't Know About Bronner's, The World's Largest Christmas Store". Pure Michigan. Michigan Economic Development Corporation. November 22, 2017.
  5. ^ Tunison, John. "Bronner's Christmas Wonderland matriarch, Irene Bronner, dies at 95". MLive. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
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43°18′50″N 83°44′13″W / 43.31389°N 83.73694°W / 43.31389; -83.73694

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