- Melissa Eigen, senior manager for marketing at Danbury Fair. Photos by Bill Fallon
Everybody is texting and now that ultimate traditionalist Santa ”” or at least his concierge ”” is doing it, too.
At Danbury Fair Mall, consumers both on and off site can text Santa”™s headquarters for help or information. The mall promises a response in 2 minutes, usually by text, but the concierge will make a call if requested.
Need a wheelchair? Text the request. Store hours? Text it. An appointment to see Santa (a new tradition for sure)? Text away!
Danbury Fair is owned and operated by California-based Macerich, which also operates, but does not own, the Cross County Shopping Center in Yonkers. The mall began setting up its holiday displays Oct. 24 and welcomed the first holiday enthusiasts Nov. 6. This is the first year for text concierge service and the second year for a holiday set with a giant observatory that, naturally, charts Santa”™s flight on a computer screen.
The mall features a traditional holiday village with Christmas trees and fake snow coupled with a modern wow factor via pictures of toys that come alive on mobile devices or on mall-provided iPads. The emphasis on traditions like cookies left out for Santa and a cozy leather couch may be fading elsewhere, but not at Danbury Fair.
“We”™ve noticed a lot of other malls on the national level have gone with a modern holiday look,” said Melissa Eigen, the mall”™s senior manager for marketing. “We have a more traditional take, with a modern twist ”” our Santa headquarters.”
The mall features 180 stores, a 10-restaurant food court, plus two fast-casual restaurants and four sit-down eateries. The holidays additionally witness the addition of pop-up stores ”” three this year ”” and 27 carts and kiosks. Since last year, new retail entries include clothing and accessories store Anthropologie, The Disney Store and Six:02, a Footlocker-based store specializing in women”™s athletic wear.
Regarding appointments to meet Santa, Eigen said, “Today”™s consumers come prepared. They”™ve done their research online and this is a new way they can come prepared, to make a reservation at Santa”™s headquarters.”
