MALL SANTA DOWN, BUT NOT OUT
As more shoppers buy online, jolly elves reinvent themselves for a modern age
Ali Schultz hasn’t shopped at a mall in years - and not even Santa Claus is enough to lure her back.
So this year, instead of lugging her two young children to the mall for photos with Santa, she’s come upwith an alternative: Video calls with Old Saint Nick, right from her living room.
“To be honest, I feel kind of bad sometimes because we’ve never taken them to the mall to see Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny,” said Schultz, who lives in Omaha, Nebraska. “But it’s an all-around pain. I just can’t bring myself to do it.”
As Americans do more of their buying online, shopping malls are losing their significance and taking with them a decades- old holiday staple: the Mall Santa.
Dozens of shopping malls have closed in the past decade, and another one in four is expected to go out of business by 2022, accord--
ing to a recent report by Credit Suisse. Department store chains including Macy’s, Sears and J.C. Penney are closing locations at a record clip, and other mall standards like Gymboree and the Limited have filed for bankruptcy, creating new challenges for portly, bearded men of a certain age who look to malls for seasonal work.
“The role of Santa, especially in the last five years, has really evolved,” said Stephanie Cegielski, a spokeswoman for the International Council of Shopping Centers. “It’s no longer enough to just have Santa sitting next to a Christmas tree in the middle of the mall.”
Santas are finding ways to adapt, often trading in one steady mall gig for a series of hourly appearances. Some are taking up residence at stores like Bass Pro Shop and American Girl, or booking more private parties. Others are finding work at outdoor shopping centers, which come with the added challenge of inclimate weather.
And some, like Ed Taylor, a Los Angeles-based Santa in his 15th year, are increasingly going where the children are, by making video calls to their iPhones and iPads.
“People aren’t shopping at the malls much anymore - they’re shopping on devices,” said Taylor, who also runs an online school for aspiring Santas. “Now they’re connecting with Santa on their devices, too.”
Taylor has outfitted his home office to look like Santa’s workshop. He uses a web cam stationed nearby to talk with his young clients, some of whom like to give him tours of their homes or show him their Christmas trees. To make the casual conversations more believable, he often foregoes his red suit in favor of ruffled shirts and suspenders, and asks parents ahead of time for their chil- drens’ names, interests and wish lists.
“Demand for video calls is at an all-time high,” Taylor said. “That part of the business was not nearly as popular 10 or 15 years ago when malls were in their heyday, but it’s exploding now. It’s one of those things that’s shifting as lifestyles change.”
Taylor charges a flat-fee for video calls, typically $20 to $50, depending on the number of children and the proximity to Christmas. (In-person visits, by comparison, start at $250 for a half-hour. He has appeared at corporate events for Facebook and Pinterest, aswell as parties hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Kimmel and the Los Angeles Lakers.)
Playing Santa is no small thing. Authenticity is important, as Taylor notes on his web site: “Oh, and the belly that jiggles like a bowl full of jelly, yes, I have that too.”
A number of apps including Hello Santa and Message from Santa have emerged to connect youngsters to the North Pole. Some offer live, two-way conversations, while others, like Video Santa, which Schulz uses with her chil- dren, simply replay the same footage of Santa, over and over. “Hello there,” says a man with a fake beard. “This is Santa Claus speaking. Now tell me, what do you want for Christmas?”
The 45-second call is the same every time. But her children, ages 1 and 3, don’t seem to mind.
“We’ve called Santa six or seven times this month, and every time they’re so, so excited,” she said. “Why would I pay $20 for a photo at the mall when I can do this for free?”
Back in 2005 when Tom Myers put on his first red suit, there were few career paths for aspiring Kriss Kringles. Some specialized in movies or parades, but for the most part the bulk of the nation’s Santas got jobs at the shopping malls, where they posed for photos with ( bawling, kicking, screaming) children.
So that’s what Myers did - and he was miserable.
“It was hours and hours of sheer boredom interrupted by panic and terror,” said Myers, 65. “A lot of the time, it’s like I was just falling asleep inmy chair, waiting for people to show up.”
A dozen years later, he’s hit his stride as Santa. My- ers - who lives in Alexandria, Virginia, and works for the U.S. Defense Department by day - has scrapped the mall gig. In its place: Dozens of corporate events, homeowners associations gatherings and embassy parties. His rates begin at $200 for the first hour.
Myers is booked solid through January. On Christmas Eve, he’ll begin working around noon and doesn’t expect to return home until early the next morning.
“With the demise of the malls now, people are inviting Santa tomore and more events,” he said. “That’s forced us to change, too. We’re not just pretty faces anymore. We’ve got to be able to tell stories, sing songs, put on puppet shows. We’ve become performing Santas.”
The job comes with its share of upkeep: Myers gets his beard bleached, toned and curled every two weeks - a process that takes two to three hours and costs $175. He has a rotating wardrobe of five red suits, 50 custom shirts and several pairs of boots that can accomodate any type of request: home visit, cookie-baking session, a day at the golf course.
As Santas rely more on piecemeal work - a birthday party here, a treelighting ceremony there - many say managing their careers has become a fulltime job. Some hire agents to help them line up new gigs, or rely on lawyers to read through their many contracts. The Santa Claus Conservatory, which Taylor runs from his Los Angeles home, has begun adding online courses focused on social media, storytelling and sign language.
“A lot of it is professional development type stuff for Santa,” he said. “How do you market yourself? What can you do on Facebook and Instagram to get more bookings? Howdo you make a website?”
He has more than 1,900 students, and says enrollment is growing rapidly.
“Demand is at an all-time high,” he said. “Santa’s got to keep up with the times.”