The warm glow of Christmas tree lights and shimmering ornaments dazzle the eyes when you first enter the Christmas at the Lake store in downtown Coeur dAlene.


Wandering through a small forest of decorated Christmas trees to the tunes of popular Christmas songs, its easy to see why children of all ages might enjoy this place year-round. Everything from a life-sized Santa Claus mannequin, making old-fashioned toys at a workbench, to a tiny Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer toy, illuminating a plate of cookies with its blinking nose, trumpets the holidays sights and sounds.


I love to watch the faces of the children who come into the store, says Mary Peak, who co-owns the store with her husband, Gregg. Their eyes get big, and they say Whoa.


Christmas at the Lake seeks to capture the magicand part of the commerceof Christmas with an inviting ambience and a wide array of specialty items at 517 Sherman Ave., across the street from the old City Hall building.


I love Christmas, she says. You cant work here if you dont love Christmas.


Its the only year-round Christmas store in the Spokane-Coeur dAlene area, Peak claims. Old World Christmas, a large wholesale distributor of Christmas ornaments here, operates a seasonal retail store in Spokane, and NorthTown Mall has several seasonal Christmas stores.


The closest year-round Christmas store is in Leavenworth, Wash., Peak says. I try to stock items that you cant find at other stores.


Christmas at the Lake has about 10,000 Christmas-themed products in its inventory, including designer ornaments, collectible nativity scene pieces, and handcrafted Santa Claus dolls. Items range in price from $2 to $700, although some Christmas trees are more.


The store is operated by Ashtrac Trading LLC, of Coeur dAlene. Peak and her husband formed the company and opened the store about three years ago after moving here from the East Coast.


The business employs five people, including the owners. Mary Peak declines to disclose its revenue, except to say that its increasing annually.


The stores customers are a mix of tourists and Inland Northwest residents, Peak says.


Parts of the 5,000-square-foot store display 30 decorated artificial Christmas trees. Each tree has its own theme, including sports, animals, and angels. Peak says the shops vice tree, which displays beer, martini, and gambling-themed ornaments, is very popular.


The vice tree started out small with a few ornaments, and it has gotten bigger every year, she says.


That tree might not be in keeping with the spirit of the season, but people buy more of the shops vice ornaments every year, which has caused Peak to display those ornaments on even bigger trees.


It doesnt happen all the time, but on occasion customers will buy one of the trees on display. Those trees arent cheap. Handmade and built to be decorated over and over in a commercial setting, they can range up to $3,500 in price. Peak says, however, most customers who buy them dont spend that much money. She says she sells about a dozen trees priced at between $100 and $1,400 each year. Customers can buy display trees and or special order trees from catalogs.


The store sells its display trees and whatever ornaments a customer wants separately, so the customer can decorate a tree as it appears in the shop or give it a different look, Peak says. The price usually is negotiated, she says.


Customers spend lots of time looking at the decorated trees and other items as they browse throughout the store.


Although the Peaks use TV and radio advertisements to market the store, they also rely on word-of-mouth and return customers.


Customer service is the key to making any Christmas business succeed, Peak says. She keeps detailed files in her computer to track what customers have bought before, and whether they collect ornaments, such as those made by popular ornament manufacturer Christopher Radko or Old World Christmas.


When we get something in, I will call customers and let them know, she says.


If desired, the store also inscribes peoples names on decorations.


Christmas in July


Peak says that over the years, other Christmas stores in the Coeur dAlene area have gone out of business.


Operating a Christmas shop year-round isnt easy because many people dont have Christmas on their minds during the summer, she says. Yet, Peak says, the summer months at Christmas at the Lake are usually busy because a high number of tourists visit the Coeur dAlene area, and theyre prone to come in.


Consumers shouldnt wait for December to find the biggest selection.


A lot of people think that we have the most inventory right before Christmas, but we dont, Peak says. Our peak inventory is in September.


The store has a small area that is used seasonally to sell decorations for other holidays, such as Thanksgiving and Easter, but Christmas is king here.


The Peaks moved to North Idaho to improve their quality of life and to start a business, Peak says. Her husband, in addition to working in the store, is a ski instructor at Silver Mountain Resort near Kellogg, Idaho.


I had worked in corporate retail for eight years, and I was tired of it, Mary Peak says. When we were looking for places to move to, it had to have mountains and water. I wanted to find a place that didnt have a Christmas store.


Coeur dAlene filled the bill. Peak says she had always dreamed of owning a Christmas business, and an inheritance made it possible to do so.


Peak travels across the country in search of decorations at trade shows. She also will sell Christmas items made by local artists, provided the items meet her quality standards.


In addition to the tree-intensive store display, Peak has about 20 themed trees in her home. She is allergic to evergreen trees, however, so artificial trees have to suffice. She doesnt believe having 20 Christmas trees is excessive.


Its a sickness with me, Peak says. You cant have enough trees; you dont have enough rooms.