From Crystal to Christmas, Country Mates Lights Up New Buffalo

With 16 rooms of treasures galore, Country Mates is a one-of-a-kind gift and Christmas shop that sprawls along New Buffalo, Michigan's main drag - West Buffalo Street - halfway between Kalamazoo, Michigan and Chicago, Illinois, just steps from the white-sand beaches of Lake Michigan.

Year-round, the shop's known as a pleasure of scents and sights for locals, and a can't-miss destination for the thousands of tourists and second-homeowners who flock to this tiny upscale community each season.

But at Christmas, Country Mates really comes alive, cramming every square inch of the historic old home with dozens of themed and thickly ornamented Christmas trees, glittering lighted greenery, snow globes that shimmer and glow, hand-hewn nutcrackers, precious collectibles, glistening crystal, and a charming assortment of books, cards, candles, glass, china, fabric and music.

From floor to ceiling, up and down the burnished wood banisters, on little shelves tucked into an old butler's pantry or dangling in the golden Lake Michigan sunset from tall windows in what was long ago a pioneer's writing room, Country Mates decks the halls with style and passion.

Part of Country Mates' unique charm is the special history of the old farmhouse that it calls home, one of the oldest homes in this section of the county, built on what was then the outskirts of a town that made its reputation as the wild and literal "end of the line" of Michigan's earliest cross-state railroad.

Once a homey frontier haven within eyeshot of New Buffalo's raucous old waterfront saloons, Country Mates is hunched right up against the busy tourist-heavy highway, now a dizzying stretch of sun-sports stores, designer clothing shops, eateries, galleries and day spas.

Stepping inside is a step back into a quieter, more civilized past. Visitors to Country Mates follow signage to negotiate a narrow alley to the back-yard parking area, still unpaved, and then wander up the old inclining pathway to the home's back door.

Once inside, all the sights, scents and sounds of Christmas are at hand. A special treat is the awesome display of the wonderfully detailed Pipka Santas and collectible figurines. Children watch in awe as light dances across the merry face of six-inch Kris Kringle, a colorful, jolly traveler laden with toys and treats for good girls and boys.

For the simple and lovely, choose sweet-faced Jennifer, Angel of Feathered Friends. A local favorite here in the fertile land of vineyards and wineries is Wine Country Santa, elegant in rich purple robes and arms plump with an after-frost grape harvest, presumably headed for the wine cellar's oak barrels.

Madonnas and Nativity scenes are not forgotten in the Pipka designs on display at Country Mates. Don't miss the unusual, collectible, six-piece Holy Night Stable set, a complete gallery showcasing the Holy Family, surrounded by snowy evergreens and greeted in an open stable by a timid, tawny doe.

You'll find Country Mates at 120 West Buffalo Street, also known as U.S. 12, along the old Detroit-to-Chicago route in the days before freeways. This special Christmas shop is located in New Buffalo, Michigan, phone: (269) 469-2890

Store hours vary by season. From April 1 to December 31, Country Mates is open seven days a week: Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. (Michigan time) and Mondays through Saturdays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

From January 1 to March 31, the store operates five days a week, closing on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Country Mates opens on Sundays from noon to 5 p.m., on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.