"Make a day of it and visit both." That's the advice from the Alger Heights Neighborhood Association in its November 2 save-the-date for Holiday in the Heights. The other event in that sentence is Holidays Around Southtown, which falls on the same Saturday, December 5, and is being run for the first time.
The two events overlap only in the late afternoon. Holiday in the Heights has the business district at Eastern Avenue SE and Alger Street SE from the morning on. Southtown's stops don't open until 3 p.m., and its evening finish is up Eastern Avenue. If you live in Alger Heights, the clock already lays out the day for you.
The Heights Gets the Daylight
The association is hosting Holiday in the Heights with the Alger Heights Business Association, and the celebration takes place in the business district itself. The association lists the hours as tentative, roughly 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and says it will post the full schedule and activities on its site once they're confirmed. A public event listing gives 9:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Use algerheights.org as your schedule source in the days before the event.
Whatever the final program is, the setting is a compact strip of addresses most neighbors already know. Experience Grand Rapids' Southtown guide, published in June 2026, lists three of its fixtures:
- Brass Ring Brewing, 2404 Eastern Ave SE
- The Old Goat, 2434 Eastern Ave SE
- SIP Coffee & Cocktails, 806 Alger St SE
Real Food Cafe sits on the same block. Its next-door neighbor is the district's newest retail stop, open since late August.
The Newest Storefront on Eastern Avenue
Holiday shopping in the district this year includes a counter that wasn't there last December. WOOD TV8 reported on August 24 that The Full Circle Record Shop had opened that weekend at 2417 Eastern Ave SE, in the space that used to be Reinspired Treasures, a home decor store. The store moved from 2660 28th St SE, behind Schuler Books, and stocks thousands of new and used records along with CDs and DVDs.
Owner Steve Williamson told WOOD TV8 his standard is that he tries "not to put out anything that has a scratch or a defect." In the same interview he said, "Alger Heights is an amazing place and people ought to visit it." A neighborhood holiday Saturday is the kind of day that invitation was made for.
Misfitz Audio shares the address. It sells and services used and vintage stereo equipment, and its website lists the location as "Misfitz Audio & Full Circle Records." Each business posts its own hours, and those hours affect how you plan the day:
| Business | Saturday hours as published | Source |
|---|---|---|
| The Full Circle Record Shop | 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. | WOOD TV8, Aug. 24, 2026 |
| Misfitz Audio | Noon to 4 p.m. | Misfitz Audio website |
If a turntable or a receiver is on your gift list, browse in the middle of the day. Misfitz closes at 4 p.m. on Saturdays, an hour after the Southtown buses start running.
At 3 p.m., the Map Gets Bigger
Holidays Around Southtown is organized by Uplift Southtown. The group describes itself as a collective of people from nonprofits, neighborhood associations and businesses, not as a neighborhood association or a new nonprofit. Its list of Southtown business districts puts Alger Heights next to Boston Square, Madison Square, Seymour Square, Eastern & Franklin, and South Division.
The event's afternoon is built for moving around. From 3 to 6 p.m., three stops are linked by free, festively decorated buses, and visitors go at their own pace:
| Stop | Address | What's there |
|---|---|---|
| HUB 07 | 1534 Kalamazoo Ave SE | Holiday market with gifts and local finds from neighborhood vendors |
| MLK Community Center | 900 Fuller Ave SE | Indoor activities for all ages |
| Wealthy Theatre Annex | 1110 Wealthy St SE | Santa visits and hot chocolate, with photos taken on your own phone or camera |
All three afternoon stops are indoors, each has parking, and the venues are listed as wheelchair and stroller accessible with indoor restrooms. No stop is inside the Alger Heights business district. Once you board a bus at 3, you've left Eastern and Alger behind for the afternoon. For families, that settles the order: do the neighborhood first, then Santa at the Wealthy Theatre Annex. Uplift posts updates on participating locations on the Holidays Around Southtown Facebook page.
The Evening Ends Back on Eastern Avenue
The Southtown crawl finishes outdoors at MVillage, 1865 Eastern Ave SE. Food trucks and activities begin at 6 p.m., food is for sale, and the community Christmas tree lighting is at 7 p.m.
That address is on the same avenue as The Full Circle, at the 1800 block instead of the 2400 block. So a day that starts in the Heights doesn't end across town. It ends on the corridor the neighborhood's own district sits on. The 7 p.m. lighting also lines up with the far end of Holiday in the Heights' tentative hours, which means the Heights celebration and the Southtown lighting run close together at the end of the day. Anyone who wants both the last hour in the district and the 7 p.m. lighting should check the final Holiday in the Heights schedule when the association posts it.
One Way the Saturday Fits Together
Using the times published so far, a full December 5 looks like this:
- Morning into early afternoon: Holiday in the Heights in the business district at Eastern Ave SE and Alger St SE, with coffee at SIP Coffee & Cocktails on Alger Street.
- Before 4 p.m.: The Full Circle Record Shop and Misfitz Audio at 2417 Eastern Ave SE, while both are open.
- 3 to 6 p.m.: Southtown's afternoon stops, using the free buses between HUB 07, MLK Community Center and the Wealthy Theatre Annex.
- 6 p.m.: Food trucks and activities at MVillage, 1865 Eastern Ave SE.
- 7 p.m.: The tree lighting, outdoors, so dress for a December evening.
If you'd like a brewery stop in the middle of the day, Brass Ring Brewing at 2404 Eastern and The Old Goat at 2434 Eastern are on the same stretch of Eastern as the record shop.
The Tuesday Before
Four days earlier, the association's calendar has two items. Its neighborhood meeting runs from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 1, at Seymour Christian Reformed Church, 840 Alger St SE. The calendar also lists a City of Grand Rapids public hearing on the Parks and Recreation Master Plan that day. The association is also looking for new board members and volunteers, and it invites anyone who wants to help with Holiday in the Heights to email [email protected].
A business district that can carry a full holiday Saturday is part of what a home here comes with. If you've wondered how your place compares now that the district has added another reason to visit, The Matthews Group MI can walk you through it. Get your free home valuation and see where your home stands before the holiday rush.
