Santa stakes out Montgomery Mall as "Christmas creep" is upon us

If the race to bring Santa Claus to town could be likened to a war - which, in marketing terms, it very much is - then consider Montgomery Mall in the fiery camp and Nordstrom in the quiet camp.

A ritual of modern-day consumerism known among industry insiders as "Christmas creep" is upon us. This weekend marks the unseasonably early unveiling of decorative displays at malls most eager to cash in on early customers with the not-so-subliminal maneuver of Santa snowlands to inspire early shopping.

Montgomery Mall in North Wales introduced its bearded bearer-of-gifts to the region's shoppers Friday, while workers in Cherry Hill began tricking out the mall there with decorations Halloween night (though Santa himself won't appear until Nov. 12). Others will follow suit in the days and weeks to come, even setting aside hours when pets can get their pictures snapped with the big guy.

Not to be outdone, many department stores at these indoor shopping meccas also are festooned with festive accoutrements weeks ahead of Thanksgiving, hoping that splashes of red and glittering trees pull shoppers in like magnets.

"I've already heard some of the stores playing their Christmas music," Montgomery Mall marketing director Ashley Pompei said Monday.

"I mean, we already have snow in October," she added, playfully referring to last weekend's mini-blizzard, "so everything is moving up and up. As soon as Halloween is over and November comes, we're just full steam ahead with the holiday season."

Shoppers likely would say they are no longer surprised by this phenomenon, whose origins are elusive but characteristic of an industry known for its herd mentality. For years now, companies that provide mall Santas and shoot the photo portraits of him with children and, yes, even pets, have been summoned earlier and earlier.

One reason appears to be that as Polaroid shots of Santa disappeared and digital cameras became popular, companies retooled their offerings to include more sophisticated, studio-type photography done within more elaborate displays.

"As the business has grown and the demand has surfaced, we have centers now that open - we had, I think, two that opened yesterday, a few today, and it goes like that," Judy Noerr, chief executive officer of Colorado-based Noerr Programs Corp., said Wednesday. Her company is the one hired by Montgomery Mall.

Yet it may well be surprising to many Philadelphia-area shoppers that a certain big retailer - whose regional footprint has grown from one to three stores in just the last few years - sits silently through it all:

Nordstrom.

The Seattle-based department store does not show a single strand of tinsel until the day after Thanksgiving.

Visitors to its long-standing King of Prussia mall store or its newer Cherry Hill Mall location - the new Christiana Mall Nordstrom was not open last year - may have noticed. Instead of decorations, the retailer hangs a flier on its windows through Thanksgiving.

Last year, one flier said:

We like celebrating one holiday at a time, so you won't find our halls decked until November 26.

"This is something we've been doing for as long as anyone here can recall, at least 40 years," said Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson.

Call it a classic differentiator in a crowded market.

Instead of welcoming Santa this weekend, Nordstrom is running one of its few annual sales and using its display space to promote that rare event. Come Thanksgiving Day, the decorating big guns will invade its stores, too, and transform them with holiday trimmings.

"It's different in the industry," said Cherry Hill Mall marketing director Lisa Wolstromer, a 25-year veteran. "It's what sets them apart."

With its Nov. 4 Santa splash, Montgomery Mall beat Franklin Mills, Willow Grove Park, and Moorestown Malls (Nov. 11); Exton, Plymouth Meeting, and Springfield Malls (Nov. 12); Voorhees Town Center (Nov. 18); and The Gallery at Market East (Nov. 25), to name a few.

As a sign of more sooner-than-later madness to come, this year Macy's plans to open most its stores at midnight after Thanksgiving, giving a truly dark twist to the start of Black Friday. (Wal-Mart mounted its own "early savings" event Saturday with discounts on electronics.)

Pompei said the arrival of Santa Claus so early to her mall on Route 309 in Montgomery County has become an annual tradition, intended to spark holiday spirits and spending. Santa gave the set built for him a test drive Thursday before making his public debut Friday.

Her Santa is an out-of-towner - not a local and, no, not from the North Pole (shhhh!). That's true of many of the Clauses who migrate to malls this time of year for work.

Where, you ask, does he hang his hat until Christmas, when he's not taking gift lists from children and flashing a grandfatherly smile?

He toughs it out like a minor-leaguer who's been called up to play pro baseball for a stretch:

He stays in an extended-stay hotel.