Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas! That’s the sound of a Santa Claus inside a shopping centre or standalone store this Yuletide. In-store Santas have been a feature of Westfield shopping centres for decades, and provide the company with increased revenue. We spoke to a professional Santa School operator to find out how it all comes together.

Elizabeth Evans is the managing director of Regprom Marketing and Promotions. For the past 16 years, Evans has recruited and trained Santas for Westfield shopping centres. A self-confessed Christmas fanatic, the six weeks of Santa celebrations represent the largest part of her business.

“The way we go about recruiting is we would first place an ad in local and weekend papers,” explained Evans. “Age is really important. I don’t like to employee anyone under 40. I think it’s because it’s very much in character: Santa Claus is an elderly man, he moves very slowly, he’s kind and jolly and does everything at a nice slow pace. I find that with a young man he speaks quicker, he moves quicker and that’s not the character of Santa.”

Evans currently has around 80 Santas under her charge. She estimated that 60 of these Saint Nicks have been with her company for over a decade. The secret to longevity is finding candidates that share her passion for Christmas. A lot of these gentlemen are retirees with their own grandchildren, and they love spreading the joy of Christmas with the youngsters of the world.

Evans’ Santas were deployed to Westfields on 14 November 2009 for assignment until Christmas Eve. In addition, Santas can also be hired for parties, functions and church services, though Evans said this was only a small part of the business.

It’s the shopping centres that are in big demand, and the presence of a Santa is imperative for success at this time of year. Central to that, Evans said a most important quality in a would-be Santa is self-knowledge, specifically that he is the shopping centre’s best public relations officer.

We asked if the quality of Santa makes a difference in sales.

“Definitely, don’t think for one minute that these mums don’t know where Santas are, and where the good Santas are. They’ll skip a suburb and drive if they know it’s a good Santa.”

According to Westfield’s research, around 9 million people will visit one of its centres during November and December. Seventy per cent of shoppers will still be hunting for gifts in the last week of Christmas, and 30 per cent still in the last three days. Evans said this is when having a good Santa pays dividends.

We asked Evans if she’s ever had any experience with bad Santas.

“I’ve never had a really bad Santa. I’d be very shocked if I did have a Santa like some of those in the movies,” she replied. “I’m very pleased to say I’ve never had a drink problem, never had a smoking problem, the worst I’ve ever had is an elderly gentleman who’s forgotten he’s on shift that day.”

And as for the movie Bad Santa…

“I hate it. It’s not what Christmas is all about. Santa is perfect, he does nothing wrong in any way shape or form, he’s actually a perfect myth, a perfect character, so I actually didn’t even finish watching it all.”

Elizabeth Evans continues to be the MD of Regprom Marketing.