LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Santa Claus is still coming to town this year, but it certainly looks different.
Like most events in 2020, visiting Santa at the mall includes new health and safety precautions. Rather than doing away with the tradition entirely, malls and stores across the nation are adapting, including locations in Kentucky.
One such location is Mall St. Matthews in Louisville, which invited Santa back for this year’s holiday season.
The mall's General Manager Kendall Merrick cited the importance of traditions this year.
“During this time, I think one of the things that’s very meaningful to people in general is traditions, and definitely a time that you enjoy those traditions or during the holiday season,” Merrick said. “So we worked with our Santa Team and have implemented procedures that we feel, again, will ease the customer’s mind and allow them to enjoy the tradition in a slightly modified way.”
Santa, along with his helpers, wears a mask as he greets children and families who sit six feet in front of him. Once they say their goodbyes, staff clean off the set. Since kids can’t whisper what they want for Christmas, they’ll have to find another way to deliver any last-minute toy requests to the North Pole.
There are also hand sanitizer stations and signage around the set, reminding guests to socially distance themselves.
Planning for these new precautions included monitoring Gov. Andy Beshear’s mandates and talking with the local health department several times to ensure guidelines were being followed, according to Merrick.
However, if seeing Santa in person isn’t on your list this year, he’s gone virtual too. Families can schedule online meetings with him through a service called Jingle Ring, which Merrick herself can attest to.
“I just did it on Friday night with my granddaughter, and we had so much fun being able to schedule that, and I had my mother on from Tennessee, and my daughter and granddaughters live in Montana, so we were able to connect the whole family with Santa, and it was just such a fun experience,” she said.
Mall St. Matthews is far from the only shopping center to offer modified visits with Santa this year.
Cabela’s is providing a similar experience with Santa while using plexiglass barriers, masks, and a reservation system.
Katie Danner and her two sons, Bennett, 9, and Grant, 6, traveled to the store to have their picture taken with Santa, a tradition they partake in each season.
"He had one of those masks, a glass mask or plastic on that was clear, and a glass in front of his chair," said Bennett, who's hoping to find a skateboard and an Xbox under the tree this year.
Danner said she felt safe during her family's visit.
“It was good. I mean, I felt safe, I felt like it was a safe way to do it, and it was a good experience for us,” Danner said. “We were in and out, which was nice. It didn’t take forever, we didn’t have to wait in a long line.”
For the Danners, continuing the tradition this year was a way to provide some normalcy in a year that’s been anything but.
“There’s some things we’re trying to make as normal as possible for them this year. In a year where we’re not in school, we’ve been in NTI since March, so we’re at home all the time,” Danner said.
No matter where in the Commonwealth you are, it’s a safe bet that Santa is making a socially-distanced visit. Fayette Mall in Lexington, Greenwood Mall in Bowling Green, and Florence Mall in Northern Kentucky are all hosting the man himself this year.