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"Admittedly there are tears as we miss him, we know he's in a far better place, and eventually we'll all join him up there." Wayne Bronner shares those thoughts with NBC25 on the passing of his father, Wally Bronner. The founder of Bronners Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth passed away late Tuesday Night.
"We just talked to him what, January," says Bob Willis of Houghton Lake. "We bought his book, went in there, talked to him for a little while, he signed." It's not just customers who are having a hard time coping with bronner's death, so are employees. Bronner's spokesperson Lori Libka tells us, "It's a difficult time, but, everyone's pulling together, doing pretty well."
Bronners is regarded as the world's largest Christmas store. Everywhere you look are reminders of the holiday. An estimated two million people come here from around the world every year, to look at and buy holiday decorations of all types, since the doors to bronner first opened in 1945.
"Actually what pleased him most," says Wayne Bronner, "was the opportunity to witness to millions of people who come in here, and saw what the true meaning of Christmas is, true meaning to be a Christian."
