'It's just lonely': Smalltown Santa seeing fewer visitors as stores close in Maryland mall
'We've been empty, as you can see. No one has been coming to visit Santa,' a mall worker said
'We've been empty, as you can see. No one has been coming to visit Santa,' a mall worker said
'We've been empty, as you can see. No one has been coming to visit Santa,' a mall worker said
Visiting Santa Claus is a tradition for children young and old, but a viral social media post is bringing some people down.
See Santa in the video above
"I'm not sad, it's just lonely," said Wayne McCrae, who has been Santa at the Marley Station Mall for 35 years.
A shopper's post about a sad Santa went viral. Shelley Fagan saw the post and headed to the mall. She's known Santa for years.
"The post was somebody came the other day and said that Santa looked very sad because he only had one person come to see him all day," Fagan said.
Vanessa Black works at a booth in the mall.
"We've been empty, as you can see. No one has been coming to visit Santa," Black said.
Santa said stores have been moving out, so there's not a lot of traffic. But he said there is an advantage to all this.
"When there's a kid here, I talk to them, and I get to talk to them 鈥� I don't have to rush them out, I can actually ask them, 'How are things going? How's school?' Other places have to rush them out to get pictures done," McCrae said.
Santa said some of the bigger things on kids' wish lists this year include this year's Barbie house and remote-controlled cars.
"People should come on in, cheer him up, come say hi," Black said. "Even if you're not taking photos, just come and say hi."
"Come down to Marley Station and see Santa before it's too late," Fagan said. "What do we have? We've got, what, three more weeks of Santa?"