Porch Notes
The world's largest Christmas store is in Frankenmuth
History and culture
Right at the edge of Frankenmuth sits Bronner’s CHRISTmas Wonderland, which calls itself — fairly — the world’s largest Christmas store. It’s the size of a few football fields, packed with tens of thousands of ornaments, trees, and trims, and it’s open about 361 days a year. You can shop for Christmas in the middle of July.
It grew out of a sign-painting shop a man named Wally Bronner opened back in 1945; the giant store on Christmas Lane came together in the 1970s, and his family runs it today. At night the half-mile drive out front glows with a hundred thousand lights. On the grounds there’s also the Silent Night Chapel, a small replica of the Austrian church where the carol “Silent Night” was first sung on Christmas Eve in 1818. Whatever the season, it’s worth a stop. You’ll find it on Christmas Lane in Frankenmuth.