8 Christmas stores in the USA where the holidays never end

The largest year-round Christmas store in the world, Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland attracts two million people every year. After opening in 1945, Bronner’s quickly outgrew its original location and is now a 45-acre lot that includes landscaped grounds. Don’t miss the 15ft snowman and ½ mile Christmas Lane, sparkling with approximately 100,000 lights. The 2.2-acre showroom requires a staggering amount of inventory: 8,000 styles of ornaments, 300 decorated trees, and over 50,000 trims and gifts. Each year shoppers purchase over two million ornaments and 125,000 light sets—and it’s a good thing they buy so much since the store’s electric bill is a whopping $1,250 a day.

Open Monday-Thursday 9am-7pm, Friday 9am-8pm, Saturday 9am-9pm, Sunday 12pm-6pm.

25 Christmas Lane, Frankenmuth, MI

Nestled in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains, The Incredible Christmas Place isn’t really a store—it’s more like an entire Christmas village. What started as a small gift shop in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (best known as the home of Dollywood) is now a 43,000-square-foot complex that includes multiple stores, a candy shop, and even a hotel. Spend your whole day (except for Thanksgiving or Christmas Day when the shop is closed) at the Bavarian village of shops before tucking in across the street at the Inn at Christmas Place with visions of sugar plums dancing in your head. The decorations stay up 365 days a year—we’d expect nothing less—but change year to year.

Open Sunday-Thursday 10 am-5pm, Friday and Saturday 10am-8pm.

2470 Parkway Pigeon Forge, TN

Yes, Virginia, there is a town called Santa Claus, Indiana and as one of the best Christmas towns in the USA) you better believe it has a Christmas store! Although it’s relatively new (it opened in 2009), The Santa Claus Christmas Store has a huge selection of holiday decorations, advent calendars, nativities, and lights. If all that shopping makes you hungry, Mrs. Claus’ Sweet Treats counter has house-made cookies, fudge, and chocolates to sweeten your experience. And what Christmas store would be complete without ornaments? The shop has tons to make your tree more festive than ever, and many of them can be personalized.

Open May 1 — Dec 31. Sunday-Thursday 10am-5pm, Friday-Saturday 10am-6pm.

33 North Kringle Place, Santa Claus, IN

This charming store is something of a Christmas miracle. What began in 1976 as a small gift shop and florist became so popular that it expanded into a massive operation of 35,000 square feet. When founder Robert Moore and his business partner, Larry Heard, decided to close their holiday store to retire in 2014, they were flooded with over 4,000 pleas to reconsider. Only a few months after closing, Robert Moore & Co. Christmas Town & Village Collectibles opened its doors as a new business (in the same location, run by the same people). The store has just about everything you could need to decorate for Christmas, plus a variety of festive items for Thanksgiving, Halloween, Independence Day, and other holidays.

Open Monday-Friday 10am-5pm, Saturday 10am-4pm, closed Sundays Jan-Oct. Nov-Dec open Sundays 1pm-4pm.

C 4213 Halls Mill Road, Mobile, AL

If you find yourself at the North Pole (not the actual North Pole in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, but the small town in Alaska just outside Fairbanks), there’s only one thing to do: meet Santa. At the Santa Claus House, you can greet the happy ho-ho-hoer and get ornaments, sweets, and Christmas decor in one trip. The Alaska shop has made people smile since 1952 and has plenty of unique gifts you won’t find in a big box store. You can also get your little ones a personalized letter from Santa (complete with the North Pole postmark) for a little reassurance that they’ve made the 'good' list. After you’ve secured a bag full of goodies, head outside and have a seat in Santa’s sleigh, visit with his reindeer team, and stand in awe of the world’s largest Santa—a mammoth statue standing at almost 50ft tall.

Open daily 10am-6pm

101 St. Nicholas Drive, North Pole, AK

Decorator’s Warehouse sells Christmas by the truckload. Owners Kathy and David Hanson started the business in their living room in 1989 and now have a 60,000-square-foot brick-and-mortar storefront. The shop is divided into areas with distinct themes so customers can shop based on specific styles they’re hoping to achieve—head to 'Santa’s Sweet Shoppe' for realistic, tasty-looking ornaments or swing through 'Farmhouse Christmas' to bring home Texas vibes. There’s also a cafe, Dasher Pie Co., that serves coffee and pie for a caffeine or sugar rush while shopping.

Open Monday-Saturday 10am-6pm, Sunday 11am-6pm.

3708 West Pioneer Parkway, Arlington, TX

In the 1980s, David Green opened a Christmas shop as a way to supplement his ceiling fan business, spinning his career in a new direction. The shop would grow into the major attraction now known as North Pole City, which spreads holiday cheer in Oklahoma City from September to January (and year-round online). The shop looks absolutely magical with a forest of fully decked-out trees, giant nutcrackers, and almost every inch lit up with glittering bulbs (there’s a virtual tour on its website, so you can see for yourself). For something truly over the top, kids can catch a ride on The North Pole City Express, a train that runs throughout the store.

Open Tuesday-Saturday 11am-5pm, Sunday 1pm-5pm.

4201 South Interstate 44 Service Road, Oklahoma City, OK

After visiting the Kristmas Kringle Shoppe, a Yelp reviewer commented, 'everyone says Disney World is the happiest place on earth (because it is), but the Kristmas Kringle Shoppe ties for that title.' Opened in 1978 by Grace and Jerry Mielke, the shop outgrew its original location and is now a bonafide experience inside a two-story building that was designed by Jerry himself. It features a Bavarian-style facade and a European village interior layout with a faux gingerbread house, church, and other structures that house holiday gifts and decor. You’ll feel like you’re in an ancient town of yore as you peruse the goods, which include over 70 themed trees, gifts for all seasons, a variety of Christmas villages, animated figures, and imported ornaments. Plus, staff calligraphers are happy to personalize your special purchases.

Open daily 10am-5pm

1330 S Main Street, Fond du Lac, WI