USA TODAY International Edition
MALLS REEL IN MORE FAMILIES WITH SANTA ‘ EXPERIENCES’
Retailers giving holiday shoppers plenty of reasons to visit
Lily Restaino wanted to ask Santa Claus to drop off a giant teddy bear this Christmas. But before she got a chance to ask him, the 7- year- old had to help prepare his sleigh.
She and dozens of other kids got the chance to be a part of Santa’s Flight Academy at New Jersey’s Short Hills Mall, where they got to push buttons and pull levers to stack toys, pick the reindeer’s route and make sure Santa’s sleigh had enough fuel for his worldwide trip. All that assisting made the final visit to see St. Nick himself all the more fun
“It made me feel happy,” she said, “and very excited.”
Malls are reinventing the traditional visit with Santa, finding creative ways to get shoppers through the doors and to appeal to a generation weaned on tech. It’s just one of the ways malls are putting an emphasis on entertainment, not just shopping, as they retool the mall experience to take on online retailers.
“Retailers have the opportunity to give shoppers a reason to visit, come out of their busy rou- tines and from behind their computers,” says Byron Carlock, PwC’s real estate leader. “And delivering a unique offering like a modern- day twist to the traditional Santa Claus experience is one of those reasons.”
This holiday season, kids not only can help prepare Santa’s sleigh before their photo op, they can give the family pet its own picture with St. Nick. Instead of waiting in line for hours, kids and their families can reserve an appointment with Santa by clicking online.
Malls have been ramping up their special events over the last several years. Regional shopping center operator Macerich, which owns 50 centers, has hosted World Cup viewing parties and experiences pegged to cultural moments like Hispanic Heritage month.
This holiday season, Macerich
“Malls and retailers are a lot savvier than they were even five years ago.” Denise Conroy, CEO of Iconic Group
is producing an experience with HGTV at 15 of its malls dubbed Santa HQ. Kids walk into a winter wonderland where their name pops up on a “naughty or nice o’meter.” They can take an “elfie selfie” in which their image is captured on a screen dancing with Santa’s helpers and tap into “elf ray vision” which, through virtual reality technology, brings animated images on a tablet to life. After that whirlwind, they take a seat on Santa’s lap.
While Santa himself is a perennial draw, such an experience gives families an extra reason to get away from the computer and out to the mall, says Kurt Ivey, Macerich’s vice president of marketing.
“Online shopping is going to always be there, but so are malls in that we can provide a real experience and something that’s really high- touch as well as high- tech,” Ivey says. “That allows someone to walk away with a memory as opposed to just merchandise.’’
Kids aren’t the only ones who get to visit with Santa. Many Macerich malls have at least one day when families can bring their cat, dog or even pet lizard to get a picture taken with the big guy. Taubman Centers, which operates 23 malls in the U. S. and Asia, will be hosting “Santa Paws’’ at 16 of its malls this holiday season.
The holidays remain “one of the key appointment times for the mall,’ ” says Taubman Centers Chief Operating Officer Wil- liam Taubman.
Making the holiday experience new and interesting is a key way to get families to “think of us in a special way, not just for this one time a year, but hopefully throughout the year,” he says.
Kids living in Miami and Tampa, where there’s usually more sun than ice, can visit Taubman’s Dolphin Mall or International Plaza for an experience that includes snowfall. And the Interna- tional Market Place in Waikiki, Hawaii, will showcase a musical light show, with animated holiday- themed images.
But a highlight for many children is likely to be Santa’s Flight Academy. From now through Christmas Eve, kids visiting one of a dozen Taubman shopping centers, such as the one here at Short Hills, can get their own official flight crew badge as they help St. Nick prepare for his trip.
At the end of the experience, they get to celebrate a job well done inside a 22- foot sleigh before finally going to see Mr. Claus.
It isn’t just malls. Toys R Us and Babies R Us will feature Santa in 100 of their stores for the first time. The toy chain, like some of the malls, is also allowing parents to reserve a spot for their child’s visit.
“Malls and retailers are a lot savvier than they were even five years ago,’’ says Denise Conroy, CEO of Iconic Group, which helps retailers and shopping centers develop and photograph special events, especially for the holidays. “They’re really keen on attracting shoppers by reinventing the holiday experience and making malls and stores a destination, not just places where you buy things.’’
But while all the bells and whistles might be a lot of fun, Lily Restaino said that there was one thing that still remained the best part of all: “Seeing Santa.”