Bronner's Christmas Wonderland
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]
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
- ^ Bronner's Official Website
- ^ "Frankenmuth's Christmas king Bronner dies at 81". The Detroit News. April 2, 2008. Retrieved April 2, 2008.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Hoag, Andy (March 31, 2011). "4 of 5 Bronner's vandals to spend summer in jail". MLive.
- ^ "18 Things You Didn't Know About Bronner's, The World's Largest Christmas Store". Pure Michigan. Michigan Economic Development Corporation. November 22, 2017.
- ^ Tunison, John. "Bronner's Christmas Wonderland matriarch, Irene Bronner, dies at 95". MLive. Retrieved October 18, 2022.
External links
- Bronner's website
- Precious Moments at Bronner's
- v
- t
- e
- Blue Christmas
- Boxing Day
- Children's Day
- Christmas Eve
- Saint Nicholas Day
- St. Stephen's Day
- Sol Invictus
- Yule
Christianity
Saint Nicholas
- Advent calendar
- Advent candle
- Advent wreath
- Boar's Head Feast
- Candle arches
- Cards
- Carols by Candlelight
- Cavalcade of Magi
- Christingle
- Christmas jumper
- Christmas Peace
- Crackers
- Decorations
- Didukh
- Events and celebrations
- Feast of the Seven Fishes
- Flying Santa
- Gifts
- Google Santa Tracker
- Hampers
- Las Posadas
- Letters
- Lights
- Lord of Misrule
- Markets
- Meals and feasts
- Midnight Mass
- Moravian star
- Nine Lessons and Carols
- NORAD Tracks Santa
- Nutcrackers
- Ornaments
- Parades
- Piñatas
- Poinsettia
- Pyramids
- Räuchermann
- Seals
- Secret Santa
- Spanbaum
- Szopka
- Stamps
- Stockings
- Tree
- Twelve Days
- Wassailing
- Windows
- Yule goat
- Yule log
- Carols
- Operas
- Songs
- Hit singles in the UK
- Hit singles in the US
- Music charts (Billboard)
- Music books
modern
society
- Advent Conspiracy
- Black Friday (partying)
- Black Friday (shopping)
- Bronner's Christmas Wonderland
- Christmas and holiday season
- Christmas club
- Christmas creep
- Christmas Day (Trading) Act 2004
- Christmas Lectures
- Christmas Mountains
- Christmas seals
- Christmas truce
- Controversies
- Cyber Monday
- Economics
- Giving Tuesday
- Grinch
- El Gordo
- Jews and Christmas
- In July
- In August
- NBA games
- NFL games
- Pikkujoulu
- SantaCon
- Santa's Candy Castle
- Santa Claus Village
- Scrooge
- Small Business Saturday
- Super Saturday
- Ugly sweaters
- Virginia O'Hanlon ("Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus")
- White Christmas
- Winter festivals
- WWE Tribute to the Troops
- Xmas
drink
Dinner | |
---|---|
Sweets | |
Soup |
|
Sauces | |
Beverages | |
Dumplings | |
Meat and fish |
- Category
43°18′50″N 83°44′13″W / 43.31389°N 83.73694°W / 43.31389; -83.73694