San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Malls add safeguards for seeing Santa
He sees you when you’re sneezing, he knows when you’ve got aches, he knows if you’ve been bad or good so don’t go near for goodness’ sake.
This year, Santa Claus, who’s likely to be a part of the vulnerable, atrisk population for COVID19, is as likely as not to be virtual — an ethereal presence who works from the North Pole and beams into your living room over a live stream.
Some malls are still planning to host the jolly old man, even as coronavirus restrictions tighten to extraordinary levels. Those Santas will be masked, sit on sanitized thrones, and wave at excited children from
behind plexiglass. There will be no lapsitting this year, even for wellbehaved kids, and online reservations may be required to cut down on people waiting in line.
“This year’s been tough for so many of us,” said Darren Iverson, general manager of the Stonestown Galleria mall in San Francisco. “I feel like it’s more important than ever to keep the tradition alive and give people something to look forward to.”
Santa is the main attraction for families during the holiday season, Iverson said. And sitdowns with the bearded one often translate into visits to stores and restaurants. Reservations for a session with Santa must be made online. Those have been free at Stonestown but professional photos — which can be booked online — range from $19.99 to $49.99. With mall capacity reduced as the virus surges once more, Stonestown will also offer virtual appointments with Old St. Nick.
Hillsdale mall in San Mateo and City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon are offering virtualonly Santa this year. The online events are free.
“We’re trying to be careful and we want our guests who come to shop to feel very safe,” said Jeff Dodd, the senior vice president of retail at Bishop Ranch. He said shoppers seem generally happy with the program.
As coronavirus cases and hospitalizations climb dramatically, all Bay Area counties have regressed into the mostrestrictive purple tier except for Marin, which is in the red tier, right after purple. Malls must restrict visitors to 25% of capacity, and it’s even stricter in Santa Clara County, where officials announced Saturday that most stores will be limited to 10% of capacity indoors.
Both red and purple tiers prohibit gatherings and operating in communal spaces in malls, so Santa and his staff can’t position themselves where they normally do. At Stones
“The key is to offer options and to keep safety top of mind.” Darren Iverson, general manager of Stonestown Galleria in S.F.
town, Santa will barricade himself inside an empty storefront next to the Shoe Palace.
In the Westfield San Francisco Centre, you’ll find Santa on the weekends doing what he’s done the last two years, strolling the halls and taking selfies with shoppers, but this year, with masks and some personal space in tow.
“A photo with Santa creates a snapshot that people cherish for a lifetime, and his presence provides an uplifting moment that’s especially important this year,” said Nick Cattaneo, marketing director for the San Francisco mall. The Santa selfies are free.
Mall owner Brookfield, whose Bay Area malls include Stonestown, Southland mall in Hayward and Newpark mall in Newark, started planning for inperson Santa visits at over 100 shopping centers in April, the company said. The setups have sleighs and gift boxes positioned in a way that keeps guests from inching too close to Santa, following local rules, which can vary from state to state and county to county.
Cherry Hill Programs, a New Jersey photography company that puts up holiday sets and staffs over 1,000 realbearded Santas in more than 700 retail locations across the U.S., has its own policies in place.
“The COVID19 pandemic certainly introduces a new set of considerations,” a spokesman for Cherry Hill said. (The North Pole could not be reached to confirm Santa’s representation by Cherry Hill.)
Cherry Hill’s Santas and staff will have daily health screenings and temperature checks, and there will be a focus on hygiene and cleanliness at the set, the company said. Cherry Hill also sets up mall Easter Bunny sets in April. The company declined to comment on preparations for the spring celebration.
“We want people to enjoy the holidays and have some sense of normalcy,” Stonestown’s Iverson said. “The key is to offer options and to keep safety top of mind.”