But the decision by Macy’s differs from big mall owners, which will still go ahead with in-person Santa visits by banning kids from sitting on his lap and making sure they stay six feet away from him. Instead, floats, performers and giant cartoon balloons and will be filmed for TV in front of the Herald Square store in New York. Mesco isn’t letting the Grinch steal Christmas this year, so they're working around the clock to build a website filled with hours of videos and family fun. Macy’s will be offering a free online experience on its website at the end of November, where families can play games, get a virtual tour of Santa’s workshop and take a selfie with Santa. “So, I did mortgage my house, and I do believe in the people I'm working with, and I really believe in this product.”. More than a quarter of a million people come to see Santa at Macy’s in New York each year, the company said, making it hard to create a safe environment during a pandemic. And while photos with Santa have been a big moneymaker for years, this year will see selfies with the jolly old elf, which Macy's says families can download immediately. In order to deter crowds, its annual Thanksgiving Day parade won’t go through its usual route through Manhattan. Macy’s has been using Santa Claus to draw crowds to its New York store since the early 1860s, calling itself “The Home of Santa Claus” for decades. Furniture Fair Power Pack Feed Our Children. Santa’s helpers are going virtual in order to protect kids and Santa Claus. Follow Joseph Pisani at http://twitter.com/josephpisani, FILE - Santa Claus waves during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 28, 2019, in New York. Visits with Santa Claus and his helpers are going virtual this year.mp4. It's all set to launch at the beginning of November. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. “It gives you a different perspective on what the year’s going to be like, and children need to be protected. It will take a little more lights, camera, and action. “Learning and singing and sharing and doing crafts and making cookies and learning hot cocoa recipes and seeing Santa's fire engine,” Mesco said. Santa KJ and his wife Carol Sherman already had COVID-19 once. She was recently inducted into the International Santa Claus Hall of Fame. For the first time in almost 160 years, Santa Claus will not be appearing at the Macy's department store chain. Santa also won’t be showing up at its Chicago and San Francisco stores, which have similar Santalands. A product filled with Santa’s stories, singalongs, activities, and virtual live visits. Which begs the question: how will Santa spread holiday cheer from a distance? (AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez, File), Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. Before taking a picture with the jolly old man, crowds walk in tight quarters through a maze-like Santaland that’s filled with Christmas trees, running toy trains and elves in green costumes. Santa Claus Won't Appear at Macy's for First Time in Over 150 Years, Heinz Celebrates Halloween By Giving Away Tomato Blood, Seth Rogen Posts Hilarious Message For Ryan Reynolds’ Birthday, Sword Art Online Cosplay Brings Sinon's Goddess Form to Life, The Boys Production Designer Arv Grewal Passes Away, Arnold Schwarzenegger Undergoes Heart Surgery, OREO Built Vault to Protect Cookies in Case Asteroid Hits Earth Before Election Day, Someone Wrote An App To Tell You Which McDonald's Ice Cream Machines Are Broken, Ryan Reynolds Jokes About Why He Isn't Using Rick Moranis' Face on Mint Mobile Products. Still, there are already malls who are planning to have their own in-person Santa Claus visits. Copyright 2020 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. Macy's said Santa Claus won't be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. NEW YORK (AP) — Macy’s said Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. Walmart, for example, is holding its Black Friday deals over four weeks, instead of one day. The yuletide tradition will be skipped this year amid concerns that it would be almost impossible to socially distance from kids who need to sit on Santa's lap. “We’ve been filming and working on it since mid-April,” Mesco said. FILE - Santa Claus waves during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 28, 2019, in New York. And Macy’s had a starring role in the 1947 film “Miracle on 34th Street,” where a girl discovers the real Santa inside the store. "To replicate the magical experience of visiting Macy's Santaland for children and their families, we will shift to a virtual engagement this year," Susan Tercero, Macy's vice president of Branded Entertainment, said in a statement (via CNN). - October 22, 2020 08:21 pm EDT. However, Macy's said the jolly old man will still appear at the end of the televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. The Macy's Santa will be a part of that parade, even in its covid-friendly form. But this was something new. We need to be protected.”. Santa’s helpers are going virtual to protect kids and Santa Claus due to COVID-19. Macy’s also ditched a one-night firework spectacle on the Fourth of July, and held smaller unannounced firework shows to stop people from gathering to watch. Copyright 2018 ComicBook.com. The virtual experience will take place online, from November 27 through December 24. All rights reserved. “My day usually begins around 6 a.m. and ends around 4 a.m. We are doing editing and polishing and the final touches,” she said. Earlier this month, New York Comic Con -- which typically takes place at the Javits Center in Manhattan in early October -- also went virtual. “The trend in the industry has gone to the virtual side," she said. “We’ve really poured our hearts into this, and we’re so proud of what we’ve come up with,” she said. FILE – Santa Claus waves during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 28, 2019, in New York. Due to COVID-19 and social distancing guidelines, home visits, hugs, and photos on Santa’s lap might be nonexistent. Everyone has a childhood memory of visiting Santa Claus and reading off their wishlist of toys they hope to find under the tree come Christmas morning. FILE - Santa Claus waves during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 28, 2019, in New York. “Moving to a virtual engagement will safely bring the magic of Santa Claus to children of all ages this year,” Macy’s said in a statement to The Associated Press. “We caught it in July and got it together,” he explained. The company will instead set up a virtual experience that will allow up to three kids at a time to see Santa on a video conference. With the coronavirus still raging, stores and malls are having to rework their typical holiday strategy, which had been to pack as many people through its doors as possible. Holiday cheer may look a little different this year. But he will still appear at the end of the televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade, the company said. For the first time in almost 160 years, Santa Claus will not be appearing at the Macy's department store chain. Given the history and prestige of the Macy's Santa Claus, it's likely that this move will signal a broader trend among retailers and other institutions that typically have seasonal Santa performers. “There's nothing better than leaning down and getting that hug from the 5-year-old that comes running, so we’re gonna miss that,” Santa KJ Braithwaite said. Macy's also recently announced a reduced-capacity, mostly-virtual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, marking the first time in generations that the parade won't wind through crowded Manhattan streets. “We’ve put a lot into this.”. Macy’s said Santa Claus won’t be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. Macy's said Santa Claus won't be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. The pandemic has forced Macy’s to tweak other holiday traditions. “Santa is safe and he's been in quarantine at the North Pole, so the children can be absolutely sure that on Christmas Eve if they are in bed sleeping, that Santa will come to their house,” Mesco said. It is not entirely clear, but the phrasing makes it sound like the downloads will be free. New York, where Macy's is headquartered, was one of the earliest cities to be badly hit by the pandemic, but has bounced back significantly and is seem by many as a model for covid response in a densely-populated city. Mesco has been training Santa Claus and his team since the 1980s. But the cost of Christmas cheer wasn’t free for Mesco. But one group is creating something special for families. More than a quarter of a “We realized it was going to be enormously expensive to put together something of the magnitude of what we wanted to give the children, a four-layered program,” she said. How that will work will likely vary by the location. Holiday cheer may look a little different this year. That’s where Susen Mesco, founder of the Professional Santa Claus School, comes in.