The pandemic couldn’t stop excited children from signing up to see Santa at New Jersey's Cherry Hill Mall, right near Philadelphia.

“I love seeing Santa. My family is a Christmas family. If there was no Christmas, I might as well just be bored silly,” said Joseph “Beetle” Jensen, who’d just finished up a lengthy chat with Santa.

The 10-year-old wasn’t bothered that he had to wear a mask or take a photo with St. Nick through plexiglass, just as long as he got a chance to tell Santa his Christmas wishes.

“It's Santa and me, just with an extra pair of clothes — this time [with] your mask on your mouth. So it didn't really change anything. It was just Santa and me,” Jensen said.

Plexiglass for separating Santa from children, masks, temperature checks, and mandatory reservations were some of the new safety measures introduced by the PREIT-operated mall and its holiday experience partner, VIP Holiday Photos. They hope to protect not only their customers, but also Santa, who tends to fall into the at-risk age group for COVID-19. The mall operator also introduced more general safety measures for shoppers at its 20 or so properties like reducing capacity, setting up sanitizing stations throughout the shopping centers, and blocking off benches and other places people might congregate. 

Lisa Wolstromer, PREIT senior marketing director, said she hopes the modified experience still provides children with a sense of normalcy even as the pandemic forces major changes to the holiday season.

“We thought that was really important to keep the tradition of kids coming to see Santa and telling them their Christmas wishes. And we wanted to still be able to offer that to our mall communities. So, you know, we really investigated the best options of what we could do to make it a safe environment,” she said.

Philadelphia-based PREIT isn’t the only operator taking pains to ensure families get to enjoy a time-honored holiday tradition. New York-based Brookfield Properties, one of the largest mall operators in the U.S., has also introduced creative means for preventing the spread of infection at the 134 malls in its portfolio offering Santa experiences. In addition to safety measures like contactless visits and masks, Santa sits behind a plexiglass display that varies from mall to mall — it’s a snowglobe at one, and a picture frame at another.

“Every center has really embraced it and has really created something a little bit different,” said Rocell Viniard, the director of portfolio marketing at Brookfield.

In spite of all the precautions, in-person visits with Santa may not be for everyone amid the coronavirus pandemic. But these days, Santa even makes virtual house calls. Many mall entertainment companies, including VIP Holiday Photos and Cherry Hill Programs, have begun offering virtual visits with Santa.

Cherry Hill Programs, which provides holiday experiences to more than 700 malls nationwide, launched Create Holiday Magic, a digital campaign to bring Santa to the families who can’t risk a trip to the mall this year. Families (and their pets) can take photos with Santa, attend virtual storytime, and even schedule personalized Zoom calls that distant family members can join. A spokesperson from Cherry Hill Programs said the campaign has greatly expanded their reach.

“It has provided us with the ability to offer options to those who are not comfortable or not available to visit Santa in person. Create Holiday Magic has expanded our reach beyond our traditional customer and provides opportunity to provide a premium holiday experience to those of all ages,” the spokesperson wrote in an email.

As of early December, Cherry Hill Programs’ campaign had reached customers from all 50 U.S. states, seven Canadian provinces, and 11 countries worldwide.

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