Posted on 11/08/2015 4:44:17 PM PST by Sam's Army
SouthPark mall made a mistake when it chose to replace its traditional Christmas tree with a faux glacier, the company’s president said Sunday, and the controversial display will be removed sometime Monday.
“It was a mistake, and we had to correct,†Simon Mall President David Contis said Sunday. “If we lose money, so be it.†Indianapolis-based Simon Malls owns SouthPark as well as Charlotte Premium Outlets and Concord Mills.
SouthPark Mall shoppers did not take kindly to the mall replacing its traditional Christmas tree with the controversial glacier as part of its Santa display, so the shopping center announced this weekend that the tree is coming back.
The decision to add the glacier wasn’t intended to be secular at all, Contis told the Observer on Sunday. The glacier, which featured interactive elements like a sound and light show, cost tens of thousands of dollars and many months to build, he added.
The glacier, he said Sunday, should be gone within the next 24 hours.
Customer feedback on the new holiday feature was mostly negative on social media. Many accused the shopping center of trying too hard to be politically correct. Others lamented the aesthetics of the giant white mound.
A Change.org petition created soon after news of the glacier came out Friday had garnered nearly 24,000 signatures as of Sunday afternoon.
SouthPark is one of five malls in which Simon had planned to add the glacier. Contis said feedback at other malls has been mixed. Customers at a Long Island mall that added the glacier had a similar reaction to it as SouthPark shoppers, according to local reports.
On Saturday, just a day after SouthPark’s announcement of the new Santa display, the mall said it would incorporate “key elements to the Santa set,†including the traditional Christmas tree. At the time, the mall said it would keep the glacier, but now says it’s getting rid of it entirely.
The mall will be putting up its traditional decor, including the Christmas tree, that will feature a few new elements like updated lighting, Contis said.
Simon has been upgrading Santa sets throughout malls in the United States, Contis said. The glacier concept was inspired by the North Pole, the well-known home of Santa Claus.
“Not every one of our ideas works but the majority do. This is an idea that could be changed easily,†said Contis, who was on the capital committee that made the decision.
SouthPark is an important Simon mall, Contis added. It has long been a “good corporate citizen†that employs thousands and brings in millions in sales tax revenue. The mall is also in the midst of a major renovation that includes upgrades to its furniture, Wi-Fi and columns inside and its landscaping outside.
Seems to be a trend, this new interest in glaciers instead of Christmas trees?
That's a lie. Everybody know that the mall was trying to appease the militant atheists and muzzies, just like in New York, which apparently had the same "glacier."
Have they never heard of a focus group? Expensive error, damaged goodwill.
Since when is Christmas early in November?
Wouldn’t have been bad if they had kept the Christmas tree and added the ‘glacier’ to supplement it. But, well...
The two malls mentioned in the stories today are owned by the same corporation. There’s a picture of the “glacier” set at the source link. It’s not cool or anything ... looks a little like a futuristic carport from the 1970s.
Uh OH! Global Warming is causing rapid glacier retreats in malls now.....
About the last ten years.
Christmas trees are secular symbols anyway so they probably thought that can start anytime.
I'd guess since sometime in the 80's
No mall Christmas decorations?
No mall Christmas shopping!
the glacier looks stupid! Fail! no wonder no one likes it. How dumb can you be to think that santa in a Jetson’s chair under a plastic wave is going to be the least bit appealing???
You have to see the picture of this “glacier” to appreciate the WTF?! moment. I was thinking some weird ice tower or something but it doesn’t look like a “glacier” at all and more like a 1960’s sun shade. it’s nihilistic art - It doesn’t evoke snow, let alone Christmas and I can only surmise that this was just another in the long march to eradicate Christianity from the minds of the public.
Simon Malls?
That explains it a bit better. Daughter Cindy Simon is a bigtime leftist who recently held a fundraiser for Hillary
Jews not wanting to have Christmas Trees and Santa Claus??? I am SHOCKED!
They should embellish their “glacier” with starving polar bears.
Hidey ho!
Simon Property Group
505 Van Ness Ave, San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 285-3233
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