Kristopher Kyer of Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer)
Kristopher Kyer can tell this Christmas story like no one else.
“Fourteen days till opening day and I get pneumonia,” he says, throwing his head back in disbelief. “So there I was, lying on that green sofa. I’d sleep, wake up, stand up and put things out, then lie down and sleep again.”
A rotating army of friends drove or flew in to help, unpacking wooden German nutcrackers, Nativity scenes, and Christmas trees.
And on opening day for Kyer’s Christmas Corner at the Paseo Colorado in Pasadena, there he was, the Willie Wonka of Christmas himself, holly sprig tucked into his top hat, red velvet suit and bow tie impeccable, throwing open the doors to his pop-up to people who showed up an hour before.
“You’re going to love it, this is the best year ever,” he said. “Come on in.”
It’s been three years since Kyer’s last Christmas store saw droves of holiday shoppers looking for new and vintage finds. Fans despondent over the closure of Stats on Raymond Avenue in 2017 welcomed Kyer to town. The shop went online in 2022 and Kyer, an actor, teacher, and author, focused on his main callings.
The Eaton Fire brought him back to town.
“I realize that’s the reason I was supposed to open the store this year,” Kyer said. “This is the year to open. It’s meant to be.”
Kristopher Kyer of Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Christmas shams for sale at Kris Keyers’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A vintage light-up Santa at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A wide selection of nutcrackers for sale at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Kristopher Kyer chats with a customer at his store, Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A vintage Christmas ornament for sale at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Kristopher Kyer of Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Vintage Disneyanna items for sale at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Vintage Santa items for sale at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Vintage Santa coffee mugs at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A vintage Santa candle holder at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Kristopher Kyer of Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) A partial view of some of the Christmas items available for sale at Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Kristopher Kyer of Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) Show Caption1 of 14Kristopher Kyer of Kris Keyer’s Christmas Corner at Paseo Valencia in Pasadena on Sept. 23, 2025. (Miguel Vasconcellos, Contributing Photographer) ExpandIn the days since the Christmas Corner opened on Sept. 23, four couples from Altadena have shown up, hoping to replace heirlooms and trinkets they had bought from Kyer through the years.
“A few showed me pictures of all the treasures,” he said. “I can’t tell you how emotional it was for all of us. They had heirlooms that they had for years and family treasures. It was devastating to them. I managed to find a few replacements, but because my items are one-of-a-kind treasures, that’s hard to do.”
Kyer’s store is filled with holiday items he bought from a summer of traveling, from Egypt and Crete, to Austria and Germany.
Bill Graff of North Hollywood made sure he was the first customer to make a purchase when the store opened Sept 23. Mindful the merry proprietor was recovering from pneumonia (something Kyer shared online), Graff brought him a jar of honey as a gift.
He’s been a Christmas Corner fan for eight years.
“I’m a grumpy old cynic, but he exudes light,” Graff said, eyeing a giraffe ornament. “I want to be a source of light in difficult times, to reflect some of Kristopher’s wonderful ebullience. We need something to take us away from all that’s unhappy in the world.”
Kyer handwrites each price tag: ornaments in a wide price range, toys, puzzles, books, porcelain villages, wooden sleds, mugs, all sorts of home goods, jewelry, blankets and dish sets. Then there are items on a theme: angels, elves, Nativity scenes, Halloween, Disney. Vintage items represent Christmases from the 1940s through the ‘60s.
“There are lots of memories here, you see things from your childhood, he finds the most interesting items,” said Sharon Nelson, who has been at Kyer’s opening days since that first year in 2001. “It’s the nostalgia, and it’s Kristopher. He’s such a joyful person.”
Born and raised in Muskegon, Michigan, Kyer was one of five children. His father owned a collection of men’s clothing stores and his mother was a homemaker. Kyer remembers working at his father’s store from age 9, then later booking himself as a magician at parties.
“Retail was in my blood, but so was performing,” he said.
At 18, and fresh out of high school, Kyer briefly attended college before launching his entertainment career. He worked at Walt Disney World, on cruise ships and then regional theaters all over the country before moving to New York City and then Los Angeles.
“I was out here in 1988 to do a show at Disneyland and I love the weather so I stayed,” Kyer said.
He found himself performing on stage, film and television, even serving as the 27th and youngest ringmaster for the 115th edition of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus. That experience is the focus of his autobiography “Ringmaster! My Year on the Road with the Greatest Show on Earth.”
His resemblance to a young Dick Van Dyke earned him roles in revivals and the Tom Hanks movie “Saving Mr. Banks.” And students at his acting school include a roster of Disney Channel actors as well as the late Anton Yelchin, who played Chekhov in the 2009 “Star Trek” movie.
All along, Kyer had been amassing a personal Christmas collection that began one Boxing Day in London, when he and a friend stepped into Harrod’s department store. Kyer fell in love with a De Carlini ornament that looked like the Dr. Seuss character Cindy Lou Who, and a passion project was born.
In 2001, when the storefront next to his Burbank acting school became available, Kyer decided to open the first Christmas Corner, with stock coming from his personal collection of everything Christmas. He began spending summers in Europe and Asia, thrilling to new discoveries and vintage finds.
Soon, a loyal following showed up to each year’s pop-up, mostly in Burbank, and in 2022, on Altadena Avenue and Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena. That was the year Kyer decided to close up shop and go online.
“Physically, it has become almost impossible for me to do,” he said of the four-month holiday stretch. “But I opened it to see my customers. I love seeing my people. I love community, but I highly doubt I will ever open the store again. This definitely will be the last year but I’m savoring it.”
His fans, those who don’t mind thinking Christmas in September, certainly return all the good cheer.
Kelly of the YouTube channel Kelly’s Deals Décor and More picked up a hand-sewn pillow sham made in Italy to add to her collection.
“He embodies Christmas. He’s Mister Christmas,” she said. “He remembers names, how many times I’ve come to his store, he’s a delight.”
Kurt Koehler of North Hollywood is a customer turned employee.
“I get first peek,” he said, confessing his love for the holidays rivals his boss’. “My husband is just as bad. We decorate right after Halloween. We have eight trees in our two-bedroom apartment.”
Koehler said the store contains so many items that evoke nostalgia for “Official Red Ryder” cookies for Santa childhoods. Although, for Koehler, “I was never allowed to decorate our tree growing up after a tree fell on me one year, so now I’m like a kid again.”
For Kyer, whose earliest Christmas memory is going out into a snowy Michigan field to cut down a Christmas tree, but who says “no thanks” to egg nog, his shop offers people a mini-getaway.
“Let me tell you, people talk to each other here,” he said. “I’ve had one couple meet and fall in love in my store. It’s a magical place.”
Come Dec. 23, though, the store closes, and Kyer will have to take a bow to another Christmas past.
“I have to take it all down. I have seven days to get out,” he said. “On New Year’s Eve, I’m the only one leaving Pasadena in my truck, while everyone else is coming in for the Rose Parade.”
Kristopher Kyer’s Christmas Corner is at Paseo Colorado, beside Bath & Body Works, 300 E. Colorado Blvd., Unit 141, in Pasadena. Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Sundays, closed Mondays. Sept. 23 to Dec. 23. For more information, visit Kristopherkyerschristmascorner.com.
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