Will There Be Mall Santa’s This Year?

Nothing says Merry Christmas like talking to Santa Claus...through plexiglass? That's what the holiday season may look like this year.

Of course, we know that the next few upcoming holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas) will all look a little different this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I think at this point we're expecting and accepting the major changes.

CNN.com is reporting that Christmas shopping will be looking much different for the children this year visiting their favorite mall Santas.

CNN spoke to Brookfield Properties, aka the 2nd " largest mall operator in the country," who shared that they are looking to keep Santa's presence in the shopping centers. Brookfield said "Santa is an important holiday tradition for many families but we are looking to pivot the experience for safety."

Here's Brookfield Properties plan on have a safe mall Santa experience, explained by, director of portfolio marketing with Brookfield. Rocell Viniard :

Every visit will be contactless. So kids can sit on wrapped packages near Santa, or across the table from Santa and have a conversation. We can still capture the memory for family photos.

Preit Malls, with a location close to the HV in Scranton PA, is sharing ideas of Santa behind plexiglass. Heather Crowell, a spokesperson for Preit, said "It's a plexiglass barrier and Santa in each of our locations will sit behind it. It will have a bench in front of it so kids can sit down and take a photo with Santa."

While there are no Brookfield Properties in the Hudson Valley, we have to think that we'll see some changes as well in our malls.

We'll keep an eye out on Hudson Valley malls and what to expect, but if you're not sold on taking your kid to the mall to see Santa you can always sign up for a virtual Zoom call with the big guy.

Brookfield is launching the virtual Santa experience on November 1st and reservations can be made on ExperienceJingleRing.com.

How will you be handling the Santa visits this holiday season?