As an antsy populace continues to edge towards pre-COVID normalcy, the retail industry is looking past the supply chain-induced shortages and looking to lure people back into consumption with the holiday season approaching.
And that includes the return of an annual post-Thanksgiving tradition: Mall Santas.
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There’s a reason that the trope is enshrined in Christmas viewing that runs the gamut from delightful and wholesome (Miracle On 34th Street) to hilariously crass (Bad Santa) to mildly subversive (A Christmas Story) and as atmosphere-setting background in countless other holiday spectacles.
For many families, the annual photo with Santa is a tradition that doesn’t just ramp up kids’ excitement for the big guy’s Christmas Eve jaunt across the globe. It’s also a photographic marker of another year of childhood gone by. And in 2020, that moment in time was wiped away by safety concerns amid a pandemic in many retail establishments nationwide.
But in 2021, with a COVID vaccination readily available for everything aged 5 and above, it looks like the tradition is returning from its one-year hiatus. However, there may be some changes from the experience people remember.
Stores like Macy’s will keep the Santa experience contactless and socially-distanced, and the department store giant said it will follow the indoor-masking requirements of each location’s host city demands.
Meanwhile, Cherry Hill Programs, the country’s top purveyor of the Mall Santa, will insure their Santas have gotten the jab. Cherry Hill’s vice president of marketing Chris Landtroop told CNN that all of the Santas they provide at over 670 events across the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico will be fully vaccinated unless medically or religiously exempted.
In those cases, Santa will be tested weekly for COVID, and all staff members will follow local rules for masking.
One expert says it’s all about getting the buying public off their computers and back inside brick-and-mortar stores.
“Shoppers tend to do more impulse buying in stores,” Barbara Kahn, Wharton School’s professor of marketing, told CNN.
“All these holiday events that retailers plan are really about boosting consumption," Kahn said. "Now post-Covid, malls and stores are trying to lure shoppers back and get them comfortable shopping in person again versus online.”
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