Birmingham's Holiday Season Runs on Daytime Hours, and So Do Its Newest Storefronts

When does downtown Birmingham's holiday season actually happen? The tree lighting takes up one evening, Friday, Dec. 4, at 6 p.m. The Birmingham Shopping District's 2026 schedule shows that most of the season happens on weekend mornings and afternoons. Carriage rides in Shain Park mostly run 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Santa House mostly closes at 4. The places that opened or announced openings downtown since summer keep the same daytime hours, and that changes how a December Saturday works.

A bagel shop that closes at 3 p.m.

Bev's Bagels opened its second location at 283 Hamilton Row in September, according to the Detroit Free Press 2026 restaurant-openings roundup. The 1,400-square-foot storefront sits near the Woodward and Maple corridor, in the space Marrow on the Go used to occupy.

The first Bev's is at 4884 Grand River Avenue in Detroit's Core City. Eater Detroit reported that shop opened in early May 2025, after the business grew out of a pop-up chef-owner Max Sussman started in 2023. Eater also notes that Sussman was a 2012 James Beard Award semifinalist for Rising Star Chef of the Year, for his work at Roberta's in Brooklyn. Bev's is known for organic sourdough bagels, bagel sandwiches, schmears and pizza bialys.

Sussman grew up in Huntington Woods, and the Birmingham location means something to him. He told Patch before opening: "When I was growing up, I'd go there with my grandparents for lunch all the time." The shop is named after his grandmother.

Patch's pre-opening report described a Birmingham menu that's lighter than the Detroit original:

• Veggie-forward options with lighter cream cheese
• House salads
• Gluten-free bagels
• Babkas and cinnamon rolls
• Monthly specials sold only at the Birmingham shop

Patch also reported the Birmingham shop's hours as 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. That puts Bev's open the whole time the Santa Walk and the first carriage rides of the season are running, and closed before most evening plans start.

A second bagel shop is coming to Woodward

A few blocks from Hamilton Row, PopUp Bagels has put up storefront signs at 34400 Woodward Avenue, in the former T-Mobile space. The Birmingham-Bloomfield Bulletin reported on Oct. 1 that it will be the chain's first Michigan location. Crain's Detroit Business also called it the chain's first Michigan shop in its Oct. 2 roundup.

PopUp Bagels is a very different kind of shop. The Bulletin explains that founder Adam Goldberg started it as a backyard pickup idea in Westport, Connecticut. The menu is deliberately simple. Bagels come hot and whole, with no knives and no sandwiches, and customers tear them open and dip them in flavored schmears or butters. The company has trademarked that routine as "Grip, Rip and Dip." There are five varieties, plain, sesame, salt, poppy seed and everything, sold in packs of three or more.

As of the Bulletin's report, no opening date had been announced, and the franchisee behind the Birmingham store hadn't been named. The brand posts updates on its Instagram account, @popupbagels. For now, Bev's is the new bagel shop that's actually open. PopUp is the one to keep an eye on along Woodward.

The West Maple stretch that's set up for gift shopping

Two storefronts on West Maple, less than a block apart by address, give the holiday shopping route a new shape.

Portland Leather opened at 157 West Maple, in the former home of Revive. Birmingham By Design reported on Aug. 24 that founder Curtis Matsko started the Portland, Oregon company in 2016 by making a leather journal. The brand now has about 20 retail shops and sells high-quality leather goods at relatively modest prices. The goods are made in the company's own workshop in León, Mexico.

Cherry Republic is coming to 243 West Maple, the storefront Detroit Guitar left when it moved to Woodward Avenue. Birmingham By Design reported that this will be the Glen Arbor-based Michigan company's first store in Metro Detroit. Its other stores are in Traverse City, Mackinaw City, Charlevoix, Frankenmuth, Holland, Ann Arbor and Lansing, and it sells more than 200 products, from sweets and baking mixes to sauces, tea and wine. Summer reports aimed for a fall opening. MLive wrote that the company expected to open by the end of September or early October. The company's Birmingham page still says "Coming Soon," with an opening in fall 2026 and store hours listed as TBA.

If Cherry Republic opens before Thanksgiving, Michigan cherry gift boxes and leather goods will be a short walk apart on the same street, right in time for the busiest shopping weekend of the year.

What the 2026 holiday calendar actually looks like

Every event below is free and organized by the Birmingham Shopping District. Hours come from the district's event pages.

Of the 10 days on that list after registration opens, only three keep anything going past 4 p.m.: the Winter Markt's opening Friday, its Saturday, and Saturday, Dec. 19. Carriages run in the evening on just two days, Dec. 5 and Dec. 19, from 3 to 7 p.m. Every other session wraps up in the afternoon.

There's one small conflict in the published times. The Santa House page lists noon to 4 p.m. on Nov. 28, while the Small Business Saturday page lists visits from noon to 3 p.m. If your family plans to visit Santa that day, aim for early afternoon.

Santa House needs an appointment on some days and times, and there are plenty of walk-up slots too. Registration opens Sunday, Nov. 1, at 8 a.m., which is less than two weeks after this post goes up.

Putting the new places and the calendar together

Small Business Saturday on Nov. 28 is the clearest example of the daytime pattern. All five municipal parking structures are free that day, retailers are running their own promotions, and the Oakland County Local Gems Sweepstakes offers prizes worth up to $1,000. A morning built around the new businesses could go like this:

1. Park in a municipal structure and start at Bev's Bagels on Hamilton Row, which opens at 7 a.m. according to its reported hours.
2. Walk to the Santa Walk, which runs 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Families register through the Birmingham Shopping District.
3. Shop West Maple, with Portland Leather at 157 and Cherry Republic at 243 if it has opened by then.
4. End at Shain Park, at Martin and Henrietta streets, for the carriage rides that start at 11 a.m. and Santa House from noon.

On most Saturdays and Sundays in December, the timing works the same way. Bev's reported 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. hours line up with the 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. carriage window almost to the hour. The Winter Markt weekend, Dec. 4 to 6, is the exception, because that's when downtown stays busy after dark. The Friday starts with the market at 4 p.m. and the tree lighting at 6, and Saturday runs from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

If PopUp Bagels opens before December, there will be two bagel shops for those early starts: a chef-led sourdough shop with a full menu on Hamilton Row, and a five-variety, three-pack counter on Woodward.

A walkable Birmingham address is valued for what's within reach of the front door, and this year that includes a 7 a.m. bagel before the Santa Walk and a carriage ride a few blocks away. If you've been wondering how that kind of walkability shows up in your home's value, Realty Solutions of Michigan will put together a free, Birmingham-specific home valuation so you can see where you stand before the new year.