Anyone else initially read “Santa waiting for dying kids”?
karnyboy on
this is kind of sad, like the end of an era.
PremiumOxygen on
Good lord, this is depressing.
TurnOfFraise on
Okay but how much are they charging? Before my local mall went defunct it cost money just to see Santa, and it wasn’t cheap.
Crissxfire on
I get why, but I hate that malls and in general, brick and mortar retail is dying.
MW240z on
It’s the mall and the timing. The closest mall to me has scheduled times and lines down the mall hundreds deep as you get into December.
Taking a picture in a dead mall, in Nov….maybe not the best parameters to declare pictures with Santa are over.
Lord-Velveeta on
Fortunately kids or no kids mister Mall Santa is still paid. Probably sad if he actually enjoys playing Santa.
It is weird how malls are dying in some places and in others like here they’ve never been so busy.
Prudent-Poetry-2718 on
Maybe if they didn’t charge $50
Lisa100marie on
I choose to view this as him sitting there chuckling away thinking he’s just landed the easiest gig ever. Maybe sneaking in a little open eye nap.
Aislinn19 on
Where the hell do you people live where all the malls are dead? I’m in Toronto/Mississauga area and they are always packed! Finding parking on the weekend is an absolute nightmare.
Glafenborg on
Is that the Montgomery Mall??
Tough-Passenger383 on
Idk I went to the mall yesterday and literally spent an hour checking out at bath and body works it was mobbeddddd
And my kids begged to see Santa there was kids coming in for sure
MeemoUndercover on
How is he in two malls at once? I just saw him
winterhavens on
It’s not even December. What time of day was this taken? Not saying some malls are not dying. But I get tired of doomer bait. Malls have always “died” even Chris rock made jokes about it in the 90s.
berriesnbball_17 on
Well go sit on his lap
-MerlinMonroe- on
Malls should build apartments/condos on top themselves and bring in more anchor tenants like grocery stores.
itsclairebabes on
I worked at this mall 12 years ago. I remember my first Black Friday (we opened on thanksgiving) and it was so exciting to see the rush of people. We were so busy and seeing Santa and the holiday decorations felt so special. They used to do a lot more for Santa. This is definitely sad to see as I had so many good memories there. There is king of Prussia mall nearby that still gets a ton of traffic at least and is a huge mall!
Prestigious-Wait9814 on
Saddest thing I’ve seen today, but not surprising. Between frequent retail thefts as well as the increased influx of online shopping during COVID, the era of shopping malls is dying. Question is what should they be turned into afterwards?
cletus1822 on
Its not even December. Can we all chill out on Christmas
Ok-Handle-7562 on
Last time we went to see Santa we were pressured into buying a package of pictures and discouraged from taking pictures on our cell phones. It seems to be all about making money now instead of just having the kids see Santa.
kashy87 on
If I ever came across a Santa in a mall that was barren and the poor dude was alone. You bet your ass I’m acting like Buddy the Elf and going over the top excited. Why because this dude deserves to feel loved. The good Santas have a lot of shit to put up with.
Kurohoshi00 on
Previous manager of a Santa picture set here, and a few things can be said.
Weather extremely effects mall turnup rate, there were days here with a ton of rain and the mall was, while still kind of busy, slow for us because nobody wants to dress up in their picture taking clothes just to get drenched by torrents of rain or closed in from snow.
This could also be a picture from the start of the season. The first week is always dry – we’d mostly just get traffic from folks who kept track of our starting week to get pictures in before it started getting ridiculously busy.
Take heart that while these Santas usually LOVE what they do, this is probably a welcome break for the Santa (and the crew), normally this is where I’d go snag a coffee for mine (the usual one I had ALWAYS paid for me to get a coffee too unless I was buying, loved him for that). In the busier weeks a small break from the flow of kids and pets is a welcome respite, even if it’s a full day with hardly any showing up. We still got paid regardless.
IamBeyondAwesome on
Some people are talking about the pricing of the photos being so high and that’s that’s why, but look, the entire mall is dead. I literally only see three people in those photos. Sad, because going to the mall as a teen was our favorite pastime. Kids these days don’t know what they’re missing.
dBlock845 on
Dying mall content is some of my favorite on YouTube, interesting but simultaneously sad if you grew up in the 80s-00’s. There are still quite a few malls doing good business still. It’s just that too many of them were built in the 90s and there is no need for so many malls with ecommerce being more prevalent. A bunch of the dying malls around here decided to go into the entertainment route instead of shuttering completely, one added a casino, the other added a bunch of different arcades and other interactive entertainment.
MirabelleMac on
There’s something so depressing about this picture.
25 Comments
Anyone else initially read “Santa waiting for dying kids”?
this is kind of sad, like the end of an era.
Good lord, this is depressing.
Okay but how much are they charging? Before my local mall went defunct it cost money just to see Santa, and it wasn’t cheap.
I get why, but I hate that malls and in general, brick and mortar retail is dying.
It’s the mall and the timing. The closest mall to me has scheduled times and lines down the mall hundreds deep as you get into December.
Taking a picture in a dead mall, in Nov….maybe not the best parameters to declare pictures with Santa are over.
Fortunately kids or no kids mister Mall Santa is still paid. Probably sad if he actually enjoys playing Santa.
It is weird how malls are dying in some places and in others like here they’ve never been so busy.
Maybe if they didn’t charge $50
I choose to view this as him sitting there chuckling away thinking he’s just landed the easiest gig ever. Maybe sneaking in a little open eye nap.
Where the hell do you people live where all the malls are dead? I’m in Toronto/Mississauga area and they are always packed! Finding parking on the weekend is an absolute nightmare.
Is that the Montgomery Mall??
Idk I went to the mall yesterday and literally spent an hour checking out at bath and body works it was mobbeddddd
And my kids begged to see Santa there was kids coming in for sure
How is he in two malls at once? I just saw him
It’s not even December. What time of day was this taken? Not saying some malls are not dying. But I get tired of doomer bait. Malls have always “died” even Chris rock made jokes about it in the 90s.
Well go sit on his lap
Malls should build apartments/condos on top themselves and bring in more anchor tenants like grocery stores.
I worked at this mall 12 years ago. I remember my first Black Friday (we opened on thanksgiving) and it was so exciting to see the rush of people. We were so busy and seeing Santa and the holiday decorations felt so special. They used to do a lot more for Santa. This is definitely sad to see as I had so many good memories there. There is king of Prussia mall nearby that still gets a ton of traffic at least and is a huge mall!
Saddest thing I’ve seen today, but not surprising. Between frequent retail thefts as well as the increased influx of online shopping during COVID, the era of shopping malls is dying. Question is what should they be turned into afterwards?
Its not even December. Can we all chill out on Christmas
Last time we went to see Santa we were pressured into buying a package of pictures and discouraged from taking pictures on our cell phones. It seems to be all about making money now instead of just having the kids see Santa.
If I ever came across a Santa in a mall that was barren and the poor dude was alone. You bet your ass I’m acting like Buddy the Elf and going over the top excited. Why because this dude deserves to feel loved. The good Santas have a lot of shit to put up with.
Previous manager of a Santa picture set here, and a few things can be said.
Weather extremely effects mall turnup rate, there were days here with a ton of rain and the mall was, while still kind of busy, slow for us because nobody wants to dress up in their picture taking clothes just to get drenched by torrents of rain or closed in from snow.
This could also be a picture from the start of the season. The first week is always dry – we’d mostly just get traffic from folks who kept track of our starting week to get pictures in before it started getting ridiculously busy.
Take heart that while these Santas usually LOVE what they do, this is probably a welcome break for the Santa (and the crew), normally this is where I’d go snag a coffee for mine (the usual one I had ALWAYS paid for me to get a coffee too unless I was buying, loved him for that). In the busier weeks a small break from the flow of kids and pets is a welcome respite, even if it’s a full day with hardly any showing up. We still got paid regardless.
Some people are talking about the pricing of the photos being so high and that’s that’s why, but look, the entire mall is dead. I literally only see three people in those photos. Sad, because going to the mall as a teen was our favorite pastime. Kids these days don’t know what they’re missing.
Dying mall content is some of my favorite on YouTube, interesting but simultaneously sad if you grew up in the 80s-00’s. There are still quite a few malls doing good business still. It’s just that too many of them were built in the 90s and there is no need for so many malls with ecommerce being more prevalent. A bunch of the dying malls around here decided to go into the entertainment route instead of shuttering completely, one added a casino, the other added a bunch of different arcades and other interactive entertainment.
There’s something so depressing about this picture.