When Sturbridge Santa Bill Barnsley isn’t waving to crowds from atop a firetruck, he’s asking children about their Christmas wishes and telling them what life is like at the North Pole.
“I love visiting with the kids and asking how their year has been, what they want for Christmas, what’s their favorite cookie — there’s so many things that can go into visiting Santa. I love extending the magic of Christmas to them,” he said.
Barnsley likes spending up to 20 minutes with each child, but he can’t spare that much time at a mall where there could be dozens of children waiting to see him. This Santa prefers working private gigs, like parties and photo shoots.
“The kids go away happy, because they’ve had a chance to really visit with Santa. It’s tough if I’m at a mall with a long line, and a child wants to talk more, and I have to say, ‘I don’t have the time. Sorry, kid.’ You never want to be in that situation,” he said.
Mall withdrawal
Barnsley is part of a growing trend that is seeing Santas turn down mall jobs in favor of more lucrative opportunities. They’re appearing at business parties and promotional events, family gatherings, day care centers, schools, fundraisers, birthday parties and holiday strolls. They’re even showing up for marriage proposals, wedding receptions and gender reveal parties.
Depending on the event, Santas can make up to $350 an hour — compared to as little as $25 to $30 for appearances at malls, where there can be endless days and long hours, said Dan Greenleaf, a Santa himself and spokesperson for New England Santa Society.
“Some malls have a very hard time finding Santas to work, partly because of the pay, compared to other kinds of work. The other is the time commitment. You could be working 12-hour days, every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. A lot of Santas don’t want to give up that much time,” said Greenleaf.
Mitch Allen operates Hire Santa, a national service based in Texas that books Santas for appearances all over the world. He said the business has been growing steadily since he founded it in 2012 and got a major boost when it was featured on “Shark Tank” in 2018.
“There’s more demand for Santa Claus entertainers than ever before. The number of leads that are coming into our office was up 36% over last year, and last year was the biggest year ever. We’re way over pre-COVID levels,” he said.
Mall malaise
Retail consulting firm SiteWorks focuses on the business of malls, and while there was a high of 2,500 locations in the 1980s, SiteWorks said there are only 700 malls today, and that could drop to 150 a decade from now.
With fewer malls and a growing number of Santas, it would seem the shopping destinations wouldn’t have a problem bringing the jolly old elf to center court. But Allen said the opposite is true, that there are more than 1,700 open mall positions for Santas and their support staffs, and those roles remain unfilled with Christmas around the corner.
“We added 1,100 Santas to our books this year, and they are far more interested in doing gig work than being mall Santas,” said Allen.
While a growing number of Santas are sidestepping malls, the demand to see then remains high. Shoppers continue bringing their children in large numbers to sit on Santa’s lap. The Hampshire Mall in Hadley is expecting a boost in Santa visits, in part, because the Eastfield Mall and its Kris Kringle are out of business.
“It’s a special holiday memory to capture those moments, whether it’s with a pet or a child,” said Kristen Hinckley, marketing associate at the Hampshire Mall. “We also do an event that’s called Santa cares. That’s for people with special needs, where it’s a sensory-friendly event. People have been coming here since when they were kids, and now they bring their own children.”
The Holyoke Mall is also predicting strong demand to see Santa.
“It’s more like a family tradition, just coming in and sitting on Santa’s lap — and the excitement of telling him what you want for Christmas,” said mall marketing director Ruth Hastings. “It’s so cute, walking the mall and seeing the excitement on the little kids’ faces. It’s adorable.”
Time to relax
Shopping malls are finding they need to relax their standards if they expect to have enough Santas on hand. They’re booking several, so no one has to work long hours and multiple days in a row.
In the past, malls would hire only Santas that lived out outside their business market, fearing local Santas would be recognized by local children. But that clause has been lifted. Malls are now booking Santas wherever they can be found.
“It’s not that there’s a shortage of Santas. There’s plenty of us, and there are new ones coming all the time. But the demand for Santa, particularly with these outside events, just eats up blocks of his time, so he’s unavailable to do other things,” said Greenleaf.
While Santas are busy rebooting their careers, there are new opportunities for his stand-ins.
“Because of the shortage of Santas,” said Greenleaf, “we’re seeing more opportunities for Mrs. Claus or the elves to take his place when he’s not available.”
Staasi Heropoulos is a longtime Pioneer Valley journalist in television and print media. Send human interest and feature story ideas to staasi.heropoulos@gmail.com.
