With local malls closing up, where will the kids see Santa?
If the past is any example, Santa will evolve.
In the beginning, kids knew Santa from stories, newspapers, and books.
Then, in 1891, the first Santa showed up at a department store. His name was James Edgar of Brockton, Massachusetts, and he caused a sea change in retailing. Edgar's appearance as Santa was so unique that children began arriving to see him by train. By the turn of the century, Santa was a retail institution. Of course, Macy's in New York City also claims to have had the first Santa, but Edgar's Santa was the first one to appear as a fat, jolly grandfather type, according to New England.com.
By the late 1990s, Santa was largely out of freestanding downtown department stores, which were in decline, and into malls.
But in 2023, America's shopping malls face a dire prognosis, with only 700 still operating — down from a high of 2,500 during the apex of mall culture in the 1980s, according to Business Insider.
The remaining malls are still doing Santa and it is still profitable. According to Bloomberg, Santa Claus lures entire families for professional photos with glittering backdrops. And these aren't the chintzy North Pole sets that you might remember from your childhood — instead, high-end shopping centers like the Grove in Los Angeles decorate towering 100-foot trees, while Paramus Park Mall in New Jersey boasts a 10-room Christmas village with ample goods for sale.
Even ailing smaller malls manage to pull in crowds for a few weeks each year with modest holiday displays. The Military Circle Mall in Norfolk, Virginia was demolished earlier this year, but still welcomed the crowds during the last few weeks of 2022, filling an otherwise dark and empty space with light and warmth for one last Christmas at the mall.
But malls face a sketchy future, and people in small towns may soon have no department stores or malls for Santa. What will happen to Santa then? Will your UPS driver deliver presents in a red suit with a jolly ho ho ho? Will you be able to order up Santa delivery as you would your favorite burrito? Will you Skype Santa? The future of Santa culture is still unknown.
