World’s Largest Christmas Market Recovering From Pandemic Impact

Bronner's CHRISTmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth in the U.S. Midwest state of Michigan is striving to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic while shoppers are returning and sales climbing up, according to staff members and customers interviewed by Xinhua reporters there at the end of October.

"During the pandemic, we met ordering and shipping challenges. Not all items arrived on schedule. It varied a lot. We have been recovering. It takes a little time. Everybody is finding the new normal. We are gradually getting back to the pre-pandemic level," said Lori Libka, who works at the reception of "the world's largest Christmas store" as it refers to.

Price Hike
The store now maintains the scale of its peak years, with more than 50,000 trims and gifts for all seasons, reasons and budgets on sale, but the number of customers has to catch up with its annual average of over 2 million. The Bronner's family, who owns the shop, has been exerting efforts to regain the momentum. For example, the electricity bill even averages 650 U.S. dollars per day.

One thing the market owner and their customers have to counter is inflation. Spending 120 dollars for his purchase, a customer named Mike from Cleveland, Ohio, mentioned the price hike to Xinhua, saying "what isn't more expensive these days? Even McDonald's is more expensive. What's the margin? Around 10 percent, 20 percent or 30 percent, generally? Probably at least 20 percent, I would think."

Debbie, a resident in Michigan, only bought 50 dollars of gifts. She came here for shopping every year and her bill varied from 50 to 250 bucks. She noticed that the price went up from the pre-pandemic era and also set the margin at around 20 percent. However, she saw the glass half full, quipping that "it's Christmas. Who cares how much?"

Bob Noble, who came from 100 miles away for shopping at Bronner's, also took inflation into his account, as he visited the store two or three times a year. "They're always pricey. But everywhere has got a price hike right now. Not only here, everywhere. If you want something special, this is the place to go," he said, noting that "inflation is taking a toll."

According to Bronner's FACT SHEET, "many of Bronner's items sell for under 10 dollars, and two-thirds sell for under 20 dollars." Xinhua reporters made a random search across the shelves, finding walnut-sized plastic globes sold at 8.99, 12.99 or 15.99 dollars, franchised kettles at 33.99 or 35.99 dollars, stuffed rabbits at 19.99 dollars, and porcelain plates at 12.99 dollars.

"Everything seems to be more expensive," Ken and Jackie, a couple from Canada, told Xinhua. They paid around 100 dollars for decorations, ornaments and gifts on their current visit.

Travel Treasure
Established in 1945, the store promotes itself as the "world's largest Christmas store" and opens all year round. Each year about 2 million consumers purchase more than 2 million ornaments and over 125,000 light sets at the store. It covers 2.2 acres (1.7 football fields) of shopping, and 27 acres of landscaped grounds, and 7.35 acres of building in Bronner's entire complex.

"My grandfather started the store sign painting in his parent's basement and it evolved into this huge Christmas wonderland. It takes quite some time to explore," Dietrich Bronner, the store's catalog and product development manager, once told local media. "When the doors open, they flood in and just you see smiles all around, so that's really fun. It keeps everybody motivated."

"(On) a typical day in the summer time, we might have a couple of thousand people come through our store," Wayne Bronner, president and CEO of Bronner's and one of nine family members associated with the company, was quoted by Marketplace as saying. "It's unique in its own right -- they want to see Bronner's, the world's largest Christmas store, and experience Christmas no matter what the time of the year."

In peak season, Bronner's employs more than 700 staff members. This year's pinnacle has already started. "We're looking for employees who can commit to Bronner's through December 31," Crissy Dutcher, salesroom and catalog/internet fulfillment personnel manager, said in a statement in September. Bronner's currently employs approximately 450 people, and plans to hire about 100 new staff members.

The Automobile Club of Michigan listed Bronner's among the top-10 man-made attractions in the state. The governor of Michigan designated Bronner's as an "Embassy for Michigan Tourism" in 1976. AAA-Chicago Motor Club listed Bronner's as a "Travel Treasure."

Chinese Products
In 2019, when Xinhua reporters visited the market the last time, its electricity bill averaged 1,250 dollars per day, two times the current level, which means the Bronner's family has to do more to resume the pre-pandemic capacity. However, at the least, the number of commodities on sale now is returning to the previous level, with 50 percent of them from Asia, 30 percent from America, and 20 percent from Europe.

Asian providers are mainly based in China, India and Vietnam, according to Libka, who declined to give a breakdown on national category. In 2019, then salesroom manager Cindy Baxter told Xinhua that of all the items, some 30 percent to 40 percent were imported from China, and the others mainly came from domestic and European factories.

"We have products that come from countries around the world and we buy from Chinese factories very extensively. The prices of ornaments and Christmas lights from China are much lower than those from Europe and we sell a lot of them," Wayne Bronner told Xinhua in 2019. This October, the store's communication department turned down Xinhua's request to interview the president and CEO.

Across the store, many of the artificial Christmas trees, ornaments and decorations, as well as popular Christmas gifts like children's clothes and dolls, have "Made in China" labels. Its staff used to go to China every year in October to check out new designs and place orders.

Earlier United Nations statistics showed that about half of made-in-China Christmas products would flow to the United States, and up to 80 percent of all the world's Christmas products were made in China.
-XINHUA