Mall Santa has secrets.
I tugged on his beard to get them out of him. Here's what he coughed up: the imperative of popping lots of Altoids mints during his shift. Having squeaky pants and gloves (to get kids to look toward the camera for pictures with Santa). Accepting that nearly every kid under two years old will cry when confronted by a smiling senior citizen with a red suit and a crescendo of facial hair. Realizing that Santa has less than three minutes to give each mini customer a magical Christmas before it's someone else's turn.
Nobody said the Santa business is all peppermints and twinkling eyes.
(This became especially clear when I learned the truth about the little towel hidden nearby. But more on that in a minute.)
“You never, ever do what?” asked the Santa I met in a sort of chalet built for him inside North Point Mall in Alpharetta. “Promise to bring what they want … The minute you promise, you put the parents on the spot.”
Mall Santas can’t afford to anger parents.
That's just part of the pressure on Atlanta-based Iconic Group, one of the largest providers of Santa/photo operations in U.S. malls.
Business is getting tougher for many malls. A surge in online retail sales has cut into traditional shopping palaces in Atlanta and elsewhere. That has them focused on options that aren't easily replicated in a digital world. Like offering photo ops with a flesh-and-blood Santa-ish professional.
And for some malls, just offering time on Santa’s lap isn’t enough.
“It’s got to be a bigger experience to drive people to the mall,” said Denise Conroy, the CEO of Iconic.
She built much of her career in the TV business, including serving as top marketing executive for HGTV. So I assume she gets how to boost a big show.
Mall Santas “R” Us
Iconic pulls in $100 million a year handling event photography for college commencements, running races and Santa operations in about 300 malls and 100 Toys “R” Us and Babies “R” Us stores.
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
The Santa stuff is under subsidiary WorldWide Photography. It's a business that endures massive swings. Iconic has 150 full-time staffers. But at this time of year it adds 6,000 seasonal hires and contractors including Santas, photographers and elfin helpers.
This year's "Adventure to Santa" at North Point has an entire Santa house, including tablets to customize holiday cards and a room to sit in a "rocket-powered" sleigh while watching a video on a curved screen and being sprayed by cold fog (to create the effect of flying through wintry sky).
This is an image business. Seeing Santa is free, but Conroy told me 90 percent of customers buy a photo package, which starts at $40 and goes up to $75. (If you want to cut your wait by booking online, you have to agree to buy a photo package.)
“Our target is millennial moms,” Conroy told me. But plenty of malls still have “a Santa experience like I had in the 70s.”
She’d rather malls do Santa up bigger. So she’s pushing for Santa experiences tied to additional movie studios. (DreamWorks already does “Adventure to Santa.”) And she wants all her Santas to have earpieces to make it easier for them to learn the names and wish lists of kids heading their way.
Malls usually get a percentage of the revenues from Santa operations. (For big operations, their cut can amount to $1 million or more.)
Many malls require that Santa have a real beard. Iconic’s application for Santas asks questions that would freak out lawyers for most employers.
Do you have your own Santa Suit? Yes/No
Size?
Height?
Weight?
Would a Mrs. Claus be accompanying your role as Santa? If so, please describe.
A mall Santa can make $10,000 to $60,000 over a five- or six-week season, Conroy said, though she said none of her current lot make that top end.
Deft touch required
What’s it like to work with Santa?
“Talent can be thorny,” she told me. She reminded me she worked with HGTV royalty.
"Talent is creative. Talent requires a deft touch. That's no different than the Property Brothers."
Credit: Bob Andres
Credit: Bob Andres
She has a secret wish for Christmas future: Partnering with online retailers to offer deliveries combined with Santa house calls.
“That is my ultimate goal,” she said. “Everybody looks at me like I’m a little bit crazy.”
Of course, any grand plans rely on getting the basics right.
With three sons, aged 1 to 5, Jesse Hinson told me he’d stick to buying online or in places like Walmart and Target, were it not for the draw of the Jolly Man.
“It doesn’t quite feel like Christmas until they have taken pictures on Santa’s lap,” the Sandy Springs dad told me.
They picked up lunch in the North Point food court and teacher presents at Bath & Body Works.
“Ho, ho, ho. Merry Christmas,” 77-year-old Dan Ross, the North Point Santa supplied by Iconic, said as two siblings were propped on his knees. He shook a string of jingle bells, I suppose to distract them from the fact that they were sitting with a stranger.
“You’re getting big. I don’t know what they are feeding you, but it is working.”
I asked Ross later about specific challenges in a job he’s handled for 19 years.
He showed me a red towel he keeps stashed in a side cabinet. Apparently not even a kid’s pee is enough to keep Santa from his appointed rounds.
VIDEO: How to tug on Santa’s beard without getting hit. Kempner asks Santa for his secrets
More Santa coverage in Atlanta:
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