{"id":3557,"date":"2018-11-21T10:00:23","date_gmt":"2018-11-21T18:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/?p=3557"},"modified":"2021-10-16T12:40:33","modified_gmt":"2021-10-16T19:40:33","slug":"families-devastated-over-beloved-richmond-centre-santas-relocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/news\/families-devastated-over-beloved-richmond-centre-santas-relocation\/","title":{"rendered":"Families \u2018devastated\u2019 over beloved Richmond Centre Santa\u2019s relocation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"background-color: #ffffff;background-position: center center;background-repeat: no-repeat;border-width: 0px 0px 0px 0px;border-color:#eae9e9;border-style:solid;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start\" style=\"max-width:1216.8px;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><style type=\"text\/css\">@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-1{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:20px!important;margin-left:0px!important;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-title.fusion-title-1{margin-top:0px!important; margin-right:0px!important;margin-bottom:20px!important; margin-left:0px!important;}}<\/style><div class=\"fusion-title title fusion-title-1 fusion-title-text fusion-title-size-one\" style=\"margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:20px;margin-left:0px;\"><div class=\"title-sep-container title-sep-container-left fusion-no-large-visibility fusion-no-medium-visibility fusion-no-small-visibility\"><div class=\"title-sep sep-\" style=\"border-color:#e0dede;\"><\/div><\/div><span class=\"awb-title-spacer fusion-no-large-visibility fusion-no-medium-visibility fusion-no-small-visibility\"><\/span><h1 class=\"title-heading-left fusion-responsive-typography-calculated\" style=\"margin:0;--fontSize:60;line-height:1.17;\">Families \u2018devastated\u2019 over beloved Richmond Centre Santa\u2019s relocation<\/h1><span class=\"awb-title-spacer\"><\/span><div class=\"title-sep-container title-sep-container-right\"><div class=\"title-sep sep-\" style=\"border-color:#e0dede;\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\"><p>RICHMOND NEWS<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\"><p>There\u2019s a new Santa Claus coming to town and some local families say they\u2019re devastated that the Richmond tradition of visiting \u201cSanta Chris\u201d has come to an end.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-3\"><p>There\u2019s a new Santa Claus coming to town and some local families say they\u2019re devastated that the Richmond tradition of visiting \u201cSanta Chris\u201d has come to an end.<\/p>\n<p>The well-known and well-loved Santa, who was a feature of Richmond Centre\u2019s winter wonderland display and celebration for a decade, has moved on to Coquitlam Centre this year. Many Richmondites have taken to social media to express their dismay, even leading to the creation of a Facebook group honouring \u201cthe real Santa Claus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was just completely devastated,\u201d said Beverly, who preferred to only use her first name and who only learned of the change when a different Santa arrived at the mall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know that the community loves him. He\u2019s honestly amazing, amazing. Him and Mrs. Claus are just the picture-perfect Santa couple. They\u2019re really sweet with the kids so it was just really saddening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Beverly told the\u00a0<em>News<\/em>\u00a0seeing Santa Chris at Richmond Centre had been a family tradition for around a decade. The long-time Richmond resident explained she used to visit Santa with her grandfather, as he liked to take photos every year. After her grandfather passed away in 2009, Beverly said she carried on the tradition by taking her own children, now ages five and seven, to see Santa.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy kids have been going to him ever since they were babies so they know his face. They\u2019re very familiar with him,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>For Beverly, the entire ambience made the experience special, including the photographers, the elves and various activities available for the kids while they waited in long lines.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJust their whole team was amazing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>However, Beverly reached out to Santa Chris and discovered he had relocated to Coquitlam Centre after not being asked back to Richmond Centre. His schedule has been shared in multiple Richmond community Facebook pages as well as on\u00a0<a class=\"ga ga-ext\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheREALSantaAndMrsClausHaveArrived\/?utm_source=richmond%20news&amp;utm_campaign=richmond%20news&amp;utm_medium=referral\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-ga-category=\"OutboundLink\" data-ga-action=\"OutboundLink\" data-ga-label=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TheREALSantaAndMrsClausHaveArrived\/\">\u201cThe REAL Santa and Mrs. Claus\u201d<\/a>\u00a0fan page, which, as of Wednesday evening, had nearly 80 followers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe actually cancelled our appointment with Richmond Centre and we\u2019re going to go see him in Coquitlam instead,\u201d Beverly said.<\/p>\n<p>Beverly isn\u2019t the only one upset by the change in the jolly old elf. Dozens have posted comments on Richmond Centre\u2019s Facebook page expressing their disappointment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere will never be a better Santa and whatever the reason he&#8217;s not back it&#8217;s a crying shame,\u201d said one Facebook user on Richmond Centre\u2019s page.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSanta at Richmond Centre was beautiful and magical in the last 10 years. The perfect Christmas tradition for children. Sad that this year, Richmond Centre is the same as all of the other malls. Nothing special anymore,\u201d said another commenter.<\/p>\n<p>Sheila Lutz, general manager of Richmond Centre, explained that the mall does a review of its holiday experience every year. This year, Lutz explained, the mall decided to bring in some new displays.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSanta\u2019s been a very important part of our experience over a number of years at the shopping centre and each year when we review elements and potentially change things up, we did decide to make a change in the vendor and photography and our goal is that we will still be delivering an amazing photography experience,\u201d she told the\u00a0<em>News.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Lutz added that there were some \u201chiccups\u201d the first opening weekend and encourages visitors who may have had issues to contact Guest Services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur Guest Services folks were contacted over the weekend by a few families that said that they did not receive the same experience that they\u2019d received in prior years so we\u2019re working through that on an individualized basis,\u201d she said.\u00a0 However for one Richmondite, a visit to the new Santa with her eight-year-old son this week was still a pleasant experience.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe was really nice, my son liked him\u2026I don\u2019t know why people are so upset,\u201d said Lisa Mitchell, who had also seen Santa Chris in the past. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t as great, usually they have the big waiting area with all the elves talking to everybody so maybe that\u2019s what people are missing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Along with visits at Coquitlam Centre, Santa Chris has a scheduled appearance in Fort Langley this weekend at the Community Hall from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-4\"><p><span style=\"color: #333333;\">Credit:<br \/>\n<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.richmond-news.com\/local-news\/families-devastated-over-beloved-richmond-centre-santas-relocation-3088375\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"color: #333333;\"><em>https:\/\/www.richmond-news.com\/local-news\/families-devastated-over-beloved-richmond-centre-santas-relocation-3088375<\/em><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><style type=\"text\/css\">.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:50% !important;margin-top : 0px;margin-bottom : 20px;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {padding-top : 0px !important;padding-right : 0px !important;margin-right : 3.84%;padding-bottom : 0px !important;padding-left : 0px !important;margin-left : 3.84%;}@media only screen and (max-width:1024px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}@media only screen and (max-width:640px) {.fusion-body .fusion-builder-column-0{width:100% !important;order : 0;}.fusion-builder-column-0 > .fusion-column-wrapper {margin-right : 1.92%;margin-left : 1.92%;}}<\/style><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\" style=\"background-position:left top;background-repeat:no-repeat;-webkit-background-size:cover;-moz-background-size:cover;-o-background-size:cover;background-size:cover;padding: 0px 0px 0px 0px;\"><div ><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none\"><img width=\"576\" height=\"576\" title=\"1301534-santa\" src=\"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/1301534-santa.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-image-3558\" srcset=\"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/1301534-santa-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/1301534-santa-400x400.jpg 400w, https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/1301534-santa.jpg 576w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 576px\" 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0px;}<\/style><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false},"categories":[199],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/christmas-decorations-1882055_1920.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3557"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3564,"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3557\/revisions\/3564"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/santachrismas.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}