It is a must-see stop when families drive around town admiring holiday lights and decorations, and people get excited to see what the business unveils each holiday season.

Bonnie Cordes, a salesperson at the furniture store, said work on the display starts well before Christmas. She said she begins to lay out a design a few months before the holiday and once the decorating begins, it takes about a month and a half to complete the work.

Cordes said the Christmas display is revealed to the public each year the day after Thanksgiving before the annual holiday parade, and great care is taken so people don’t see what is being brewed beforehand.

“We hang paper over the windows so people can’t see it until we reveal it on the Friday after Thanksgiving,” Cordes said. “We like to do it then, so people who are walking or driving by can see it on their way to the parade. We always see a lot of people stopping and taking pictures.”

News Photos by Steve Schulwitz Alpena Furniture employee Bonnie Cordes adjusts a reindeer connected to Santa’s sleigh. The sleigh and reindeer are only a small part of the holiday display at the store. Alpena Furniture has gone all out in its decoration for many decades.

A long list of names, held by Santa, is incorporated into the display and runs along the business’s front window. She said people can look to see if their first name is on the list to see if they were good this year in the eyes of St. Nick. Cordes said if someone notices their name isn’t on the list, they can drop in or call the store and it will be added.

“We don’t want anyone to be forgotten during Christmas,” she said.

Because of the amount of work and volume of lights and decorations, Cordes said the entire staff plays a role in making the holiday display a reality. She said everyone from delivery employees to management lends a hand to make sure everything is as perfect as possible when it is presented to the public.

“It is 100% a group effort,” she said. “Everybody does something at some point to get it done.”

Cordes said the feedback from the community is always very positive and people comment and even send cards and notes complimenting the store in the display. She said all of the decorations, which are scattered throughout the store too, boost morale at the store during the holiday season, when business gets a holiday bump and stress levels tend to rise.

News Photos by Steve Schulwitz Popular characters from Christmas programs are part of the holiday display at Alpena Furniture. This year’s display will be up until early January.

Because the store has set up a display for many years, it has amassed a large inventory of lights and decorations. Cordes said each year new decorations are combined with vintage ones to use in the displays. There is an old stuffed Santa in his sleigh that is harnessed to all of the reindeer included in the display for many years, as well as a vintage gingerbread house and an old-style truck loaded with gifts. Those old decorations are surrounded by more modern lights and decorations.

Cordes said the display usually stays up until early January and the work begins again dismantling everything and setting up other window displays with furniture and other household items. She recommended that people who want to see the display do so after dark to get the full effect of the display.

“It looks awesome and we’re happy the people enjoy it,” she said. “It really does look incredible at night.”

News Photos by Steve Schulwitz This old gingerbread house has been a staple in Alpena Furniture’s Christmas display.

News Photos by Steve Schulwitz A long list of names runs along the windows of the Christmas display at Alpena Furniture. If you don’t see your first name on the list, you can contact the store and it will be added.

News Photos by Steve Schulwitz Santa’s reindeer and sleigh hover over a portion of the holiday display at Alpena Furniture. The pieces to the decoration are vintage, but in good condition.