Only six malls out of 200 owned by Simon Property Group had the much maligned Santa's glacier display.
HACKENSACK -- In the wake of the backlash over its futuristic glacial setting at several malls, Simon Property Group says it always intended to have Christmas trees and traditional decor at most of its locations.
"In six of our nearly 200 malls, Simon had developed a new Santa experience," said David Contis, president of Simon Malls in a statement. "It was our intention to experiment with delivering a modern interactive experience for the family. After listening to customer feedback, we immediately decided to reinstall our existing Christmas decor and hope our customers will join us in celebrating the Christmas season."
Over the weekend, a Facebook group called "Boycott Simon Malls" sprang up urging customers to boycott malls owned by the company until the holiday displays featured a traditional set-up. Petitions also popped up on Change.org pressuring Simon malls to abandon Santa's glacier.
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Only one northern New Jersey mall, The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack, had the much maligned Santa's glacier -- where children could romp in an artificial snow bank that had no other traditional holiday elements except St. Nick. Both the Menlo Park Mall in Edison and Rockaway Townsquare, however, had "sets that blend traditional decor and refreshed elements," according to Simon Property Group.
Two photos on social media, however, show Santa sitting at the Menlo Park display waiting to take photos surrounded by illuminated arches, white reindeer cutouts and bare white tree cut outs. No Christmas tree was present at the time, but a Christmas tree was later added to the display days later.
A spokesman for the company told NJ Advance Media denied that the Christmas tree was added in response to public pressure, saying it was always part of the plan. The display was still being put together when photos surfaced on social media, according to the spokesman.
It's a week after Halloween and Santa has already arrived at Menlo Park Mall!! pic.twitter.com/JmGnYstSxg
-- Suzanne Russell (@SRussellMyCJ) November 8, 2015
Boycott Simon malls........ pic.twitter.com/DftNdj7uTx
-- Jennifer Rastiello (@JRastiello) November 10, 2015
Simon Property Group has not responded to questions about who designed the glacial set-up or how the idea for that display or the white-arched display at Menlo Park Mall came about.
In Morris County, a comment left on social media led to professional blowback for an employee of the Parsippany school district. Frank Atkins, a bus driver for the district, left an ethnically charged Facebook post that he later removed, according to Jefferson Patch.
"This mall used to be so great...And now they go politically correct and refuse to have Christmas decorations up so as to not offend the towel heads," Atkins said in the post. "WHAT ABOUT OFFENDING US THE CHRISTIANS! My kid will never visit Santa there and I work for the Parsippany school district. I am sending the word out to all our schools and all the others to boycott your mall!"
NJ Advance Media was unable to reach Atkins for comment. However, an individual who identified himself as Atkins in the comments of the Jefferson Patch post apologized for his remarks.
"I want to say that I meant no disrespect to whoever I offended with my ignorant words," he said. "I was mad at the mall and acted impulsively stupid. I am a divorced single dad with a little girl. I make only $20,000 a year. Give a guy a break. I want to say that I am sincerely sorry and I hope you all can forgive me."
MORE: Christmas-tree free N.J. mall displays blow up on social media
The Parsippany-Troy Hills Board of Education issued a statement following media attention on Atkins' post, saying it would handle the matter as a personnel issue.
"The district is aware of the statements that were posted by one of its employees," the board said in the statement. "The Parsippany-Troy Hills School district prides itself on its diversity and its acceptance of all individuals and does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. This pride is reflective of over 1,700 employees who work each day with our students, parents, and community members."
It continued: "While we understand the value of free speech we do not condone any of our employees making discriminatory and offensive comments about any one particular group of people. The matter is being handled as a personnel issue."
Justin Zaremba may be reached at jzaremba@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinZarembaNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
