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Friday, December 2, 2011

Portland Santagate: Macy's is on Portland Santa's Naughty List

Posted by Sarah Mirk on Fri, Dec 2, 2011 at 4:46 PM

Portlands Santa Phil: Displaced, displeased.
  • Portland's Santa Phil: Displaced, displeased.
The Santas who have run the Santaland at Portland's Meier and Frank, then Macy's, for nearly three decades are adding a big name to their naughty list: Macy's.

The Portland Santa company has been contracted to do the whole elf, snow, wish list rigamarole at Portland's downtown department store for 28 years, according to owner Joe Hawes. But this summer, the team got a call that Macy's across the country would be switching to an East Coast vendor to run and staff their Santalands. Sorry, Portland Santas, y'all are booted.

Worse, says Hawes, the other vendor is hiring Santas with costume beards.

"The style they do is a charicature of Santa," says Hawes, whose company's two bearded Santas have been working Christmas in Portland for 12 and eight years, respectively. "We’ve always had naturally bearded santas who play the role of Santa for year after year. The experience is dramatically different. The children come in and identify with an indivudual rather than a costumed character."

Instead of giving up Santaland, though, Portland's veteran Santas are setting up shop right around the corner at a their own rival Santaland in Pioneer Square. They're relocating all the parts of their traditional Macy's display to the Square starting December 14th.

I left a message with Macy's spokesperson seeking comment. The response on Portland Santa's Facebook page, meanwhile, has been one of shock and horror.

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Comments (8) RSS

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1
On the brightside, Santa work is rarely outsourced.
Posted by Fruit Cup on December 2, 2011 at 4:52 PM · Report
2
fuck, I was already boycotting macy's! too bad i can't boycott them -again-.
Posted by ScrumYummy on December 3, 2011 at 1:20 AM · Report
3
Thank you for this! This was our worst Santa experience, ever!! Now we know where to find Santa Phil! Screw you fake Macy's Santa.
Posted by JayMo on December 4, 2011 at 10:55 AM · Report
4
There is a really good Santa at Pioneer Place downtown Portland. Real beard. Real boots.
He is the real deal.
Posted by jj on December 4, 2011 at 8:57 PM · Report
5
I live on Cape Cod and I am also a Real Bearded Santa, It looks like Macy's has shot them self's in the foot on this one. Just another attempted at Corporate Greed. You Santa's in Portland stick together and I am cheering for you.

Keeping CHRIST in CHRISTmas,
CapeCod Santa
Posted by Cape Cod Santa on December 7, 2011 at 2:54 AM · Report
6
I feel a Santa should have a real beard, it helps make all believe in the spirit of Christmas... We have been going to see a Santa in one of our local malls for years becouse he has the wonderful white beard, His Wife makes him wonderful costumes that he wears and when I see him every year I start to cry. This man is the REAL SANTA in my eyes so to take him away would be devistating!!! I do not like taking my children to see a FAKE Santa and I will not be visiting Macy's anytime soon becouse of it!!!!!
Posted by bratt76 on December 9, 2011 at 10:22 PM · Report
7

What if the spirit of Santa could be real... wouldn't the world be a better place? Sure if we all believed in the spirit of Christmas, we might give gifts from the heart and not run off to the big plastic department stores, where Fake bearded Santa Claus, might be Cheaper to hire, increasing the overall profits from their capitalistic X-mas. Yah, they have taken the Christ out of Christmas. “Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards man”, is just another antiquated phrase. Who on earth is a better example of “Goodwill towards man” than the classical Santa, giving gifts to the poor and underprivileged, just to bring a little Joy into their lives. Maybe everyone can't afford, especially in this time, to shop for an X-box or iPad at Macy's. Maybe due to our economy, some of us have to give gifts of the heart instead. Our little children have to grow up all too fast, why constantly erode what is good and pure from their lives? What is wrong with a bearded Santa that has the Christmas Spirit, and looks forward to putting a little twinkle in a youngster’s eye for Christmas? These Bearded Santa's are individuals that carries the True Christmas Spirit most of the year, not just from “Black Friday” with its muggings and shootings, thru the capitalistic post Christmas “White Sales”. In this country, where we are teaching Sex Education to Third Graders, forcing them to Grow Up way too fast, what is the harm of trying to help them hang onto just a little bit of their Childhood. Maybe, through a realistic Santa Claus with a beard that cares. They can help them to hang onto the Joy, and the true meaning of Christmas just another year or two longer. Lets face it, which would you rather have, Real Cheese from Happy Cows or Fake cheese. How about that Latte and your Creamer, Dairy or Homogenized Oil? A real Steak, or some reconstituted meat by-product patty. How about you Craftsmen? A quality built tool made from quality materials, or some Made in China Look-a-like. Real or Fake? A Santa with Christmas Spirit, or a store employee in a red suit and fake beard? What can we do? Well my decision was easy... Thank you Macy's, I've found somewhere else to shop. Personally, I see this as just another way of taking the “True Spirit of Christmas” and Christ out of X-mas, and I will continue my Christmas shopping somewhere, where they embrace the Spirit of the Season, and not just dance to the tune of the cash register putting more of our money in their pockets without any real return for our investments. Like, putting a little sparkle in the eyes of our children, Real or Glitter?
More...
Posted by DannWerve on December 10, 2011 at 5:14 PM · Report
8
My family and I visited Santa at Pioneer Square today, and it was great. The line of devoted Santa followers often stretched outside the warming tent (fortunately we were in there for the whole wait--somehow being in a clear tent, with the tree and all the sights around us, made it more bearable than being in a stuffy building). I'd planned on boycotting the whole Santaland thing (which I'd already contemplated doing, having grown up with the real Santaland at M&F), but I knew that my son would like seeing Rudolph et al, so we headed to the Macy's basement. I took a peek at the Macy's "Santa," who definitely looked like a fake Santa. Another big difference between the competing Santa displays: no long line at Macy's. And an associate told me that the line has never gone past the entrance to Santaland. Pay attention, Macy's, because that says a lot. Meanwhile, I'm glad we have a new holiday tradition in the heart of downtown.
Posted by proofer on December 22, 2011 at 3:49 PM · Report

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