Gardner White’s Twinkle Town sparkles for the holiday season

WARREN — It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

On the evening of Nov. 9, Gardner White Furniture, 6500 14 Mile Road, officially debuted “Twinkle Town” to an excited crowd ready to get into the holiday spirit.

Outside on the Gardner White property, Twinkle Town lit up the night with a Christmas light show, fireworks and a performance by the Cousino High School Marching Band. The outdoor Twinkle Town lights will glow throughout the holiday season to bring everyone a holly, jolly Christmas.

Gardner White is a fourth-generation family-owned and operated furniture and mattress retailer with 12 stores in metro Detroit, Ann Arbor and Saginaw.

Shannon Murphy from Mojo in the Morning on Channel 95.5 emceed the event. During the kickoff, Gardner White President Rachel Stewart was on hand with her family to welcome everyone to Twinkle Town, which she hopes will become an annual tradition in Warren.

“We’re so excited to be in our new home here on 14 Mile and so excited for our first-ever Twinkle Town. If you look around, I think it’s going to be the first of many,” Stewart said. “We know the holidays are all about family and friends coming together making memories, which is why we created this. Earlier this year, we moved our corporate offices back to Warren and back to Macomb County.”

Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel — who was born and raised in Warren — greeted the crowd, joking that he hoped switching on the lights would not cause “a Clark Griswold experience.”

“I hope it doesn’t take away from all the electricity and houses in and around this community,” Hackel said, referring to the “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” movie while talking briefly about the holidays. “Thanksgiving and Christmastime are my favorite times of year. Now being able to drive by here and see this place lit up adds value to Macomb County. Thank you, Gardner White.”

For Warren Mayor James Fouts, Twinkle Town is a welcome relief.

“This is my favorite time of the year. This is a good time to have this Christmas event. We just have had a very stressful year with the international situation and the economy and the election on Tuesday,” Fouts said.

“Now is the time to put away all of those past things and to celebrate this beautiful store. I’ve been pleading with (Gardner White) to come here for several years,” Fouts said. “Finally, my Christmas wish has come true, and that is to have Twinkle Town. Enjoy all the twinkling and thank you, Rachel.”

The festivities continued inside where families visited with Santa Claus and satisfied their taste buds with holiday treats.

Throughout the holiday season, Gardner White customers will be rockin’ around the Christmas tree, or trees, that is. Sales associates are holding a “Parade of Trees” contest that in turn will benefit the community.

Upon entering the Warren store, guests are encouraged to walk along “Candy Cane Lane” to view the 12 Christmas trees that have been decorated by popular Michigan fashion and lifestyle influencers, including HGTV’s The Bargain Block Guys. Each tree comes with its own theme.

Each designer selected a charity to support. The public can vote for their favorite tree online at gardwhit.co/twinkle through Dec. 18. The first-, second- and third-place finishers will receive $5,000, $2,500, and $1,000 to benefit the nonprofit organization they chose.

In another effort to give back to the community, Gardner White is participating in the annual Toys for Tots toy drive. The public is welcome to donate a new, unwrapped toy at any Gardner White store until Dec. 7. Toys for Tots, run by the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve, distributes toys to children in need.