Department 56 Makes Every Day a Holiday

VIRGINIA BEACH, VIRGINIA -- According to its web site, Department 56 began this way: “One Christmas evening, a group of friends set off to enjoy a dinner of celebration at a small country inn nestled in a quiet river town.   As they rounded a bend in the road, they saw the small, old-fashioned village decorated for the holidays.   The lights, like fairies, glowed and sparkled amid the freshly fallen snow.  All evening, the conversation was full of Christmas memories and the visions the tiny town had evoked.  Amidst the jovial banter and magical memories, the idea for a lighted Christmas village was born.  That spark of an idea became a reality when, in 1976, Department 56 introduced a series of six hand-painted, ceramic buildings.”

      Department 56 began as part of Bachman’s, a retail florist in Minneapolis.  Bachman’s used a numbering system to identify each of its departments, assigning to the wholesale gift imports division the number 56.

      Headquartered in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Department 56 is now the leader in the giftware, collectibles and holiday decorating industry.  It is best known for its hand-crafted villages, Snowbabies figurines and an extensive line of holiday and home decorative products.

      The original six village buildings have long since been retired, but others took its place, including The Dickens’ Village Series, designed to capture the spirit of a Victorian Christmas in England, a New England and Alpine Village series, North Pole, Disney Parks Village, and year-round Seasons Bay series.  

      In May of 1999, Department 56 opened its first ever corporate retail store within Bloomington, Minnesota’s Mall of America.   Other locations include the Aladdin Hotel's Dessert Passage in Las Vegas, Pier 39 in San Francisco, Water Tower Place in Chicago, and both Disney World and Disneyland.

      Divaris Real Estate, Inc. is exclusively representing Department 56 in its search for a 60,000-square-foot store in the Hampton Roads, Virginia market.  Mary McGovern and Erica Meekins, of DRE's Virginia Beach office, are handling the Department 56 account. Smaller stores are being sought in Florida and in the greater Washington market. Alan Luger of DRE’s Maryland office is working to secure locations for Department 56 in Washington, D.C.