Christmas at the Lake opens year-round holiday shop in Coeur d'Alene
A Christmas shop opened in downtown Coeur d’Alene in May, betting that Resort Plaza traffic and holiday nostalgia can keep the lights on all year.
Christmas at the Lake opened May 2 in The Coeur d’Alene Resort Plaza Shops at 210 E. Sherman Ave., bringing a holiday storefront to downtown at a time when most retailers are moving in the opposite direction. The shop is run by Bekah and Cyrus Zamani, who brought 14 years of holiday retail experience from Santa Land in Portland to a business model built around visitors, not just December shoppers.
The Zamanis said they saw a lingering affection for the Christmas store that had closed in Coeur d’Alene, and that memory helped shape their decision to reopen here. Just as important, they wanted a shop that would stand out in a downtown retail district already shaped by steady foot traffic from tourists, hotel guests and shoppers moving between the lake, the resort and Sherman Avenue.
Inside, the store is designed to feel like an experience rather than a seasonal aisle. The owners plan changing displays throughout the year, including a tree near the front that can be redecorated as the seasons change. They also built in a kid-friendly letter-writing station, where children can write to family members or to Santa, a detail that fits the shop’s tourist-friendly, family-oriented feel.
The merchandise leans heavily into traditional holiday collecting. Shelves carry hand-blown glass ornaments, authentic German nutcrackers, German candle fans, mantle décor, vintage-style holiday games and Lionel O-scale train sets. The mix gives the store a broader appeal than a typical Christmas pop-up, aiming at locals furnishing holiday homes as well as visitors looking for something distinctive to take home from downtown.
Cyrus Zamani said the shop is intended to grow beyond Christmas once it settles in, with plans to add Halloween, Independence Day and Easter displays. He also wants the business to connect with the wider downtown calendar by helping promote local events such as car shows and Ironman, tying the store’s year-round niche to the visitor economy that helps drive Coeur d’Alene’s core business district. In a plaza built around tourism and walk-in traffic, a Christmas shop in May is less of a contradiction than a bet on how downtown Coeur d’Alene actually works.
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