Santa and Tysons Mall Nearing Agreement

By Fredrick Kunkle, Debbi Wilgoren

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Tysons Corner Center and the longtime mall Santa whose dumping triggered a local uproar may work things out in time for the Christmas shopping season after all.

Less than 90 minutes before a scheduled news conference, Santa's publicist emailed reporters saying "Tysons Corner Center management and Pam Deese, attorney for Mike Graham (aka the Tysons Corner Center Santa), have reached an 'agreement in principle' that will allow Graham to retain his position . . . for the 2008 holiday season."

"With the actual terms of our agreement still under discussion, it was only prudent that we cancel Thursday's media event," said Pamela Deese, Graham's lawyer and a partner at the law firm of Arent Fox. It was not immediately clear whether the pending agreement also meant Graham would cancel his planned appearance a CBS morning news show.

Graham, who is a carpenter from Tennessee when he is not entertaining gift requests from children in Fairfax County, spent 18 shopping seasons at Tysons before getting a pink slip this year. His admirers say he had a special touch with children, and frazzled parents, that helped turn him into a minor celebrity.

Hundreds of people whose families went to see Graham every year called the mall to protest his ouster, burning up e-mail group lists with commentary and threatening to boycott the shopping center. A radio station in Green Bay, Wis., ran the story and SantasForHire.com, an online booking agency for Santa's helpers, announced it wanted to track down Graham to offer him a job.

"That's a devastating move they've done over at Tysons Corner Center," said Pat Chambers, whose daughter surrendered her pacifier to Santa when the time arrived to give it up. "We bring him cookies every year. There's no way I can go back there if it's another Santa."

Yesterday, mall officials said they were sorry for leaving Santa Claus out in the cold.

"We offer a deep apology to Mr. Graham and to our shoppers," said Allison Fischer, a spokeswoman for Macerich, which operates the mall. "We hope that Mr. Graham, our shoppers and everyone across the country who has been affected by this situation will understand."

It was not clear yesterday whether Graham could continue working at the Fairfax County mall or perhaps take his ho-ho-hos to another venue. Deese said last night that no one has directly apologized to her client and that no arrangements have been made. "I'm happy to try to broker a deal," Deese said. "Let's do something that would be a win-win situation for both."

In the news release this morning, Deese said progress was being made. "Based upon our preliminary conversations, we fully expect to finalize a deal within the coming days, at which time, we will issue an appropriate statement," Deese said.

Also in the news release, Graham expressed gratitude for the outpouring of public support he had received. "I'm both honored and humbled by all the calls and e-mails," he said " . . . It's a wonderful feeling to know that in some small way, I've touched the lives of so many people, especially the children," he said.

Graham had a contract at the mall through 2012. The contract paid him about $30,000 to be St. Nick seven days a week for five weeks, and it included a clause that allowed the mall to discontinue his services without cause. But Graham said he did not learn of the cancellation until he contacted the mall late last month, and by then it was too late to line up another job.

"We're taking our lumps, and we know we made an error," Fischer said yesterday. She said officials had erred in handling the timing of the notification to Graham and were working to correct the situation by a financial arrangement and an offer of employment somewhere.

The new company that will handle photos with the new Santa at the mall also said it made a mistake.

"I'll take the hit," said Steve Hardin, senior vice president of World Wide Photography, which provides same-day professional photography for special events, including Santalands in malls. Hardin said he was not aware of Graham's stature when his company took over the contract to provide a Santa this year.

"I'm trying to rectify it," Hardin said, adding that he is trying to find another post for Graham, perhaps closer to his home in Tennessee.

Hardin said the issue was not about money, although he said Graham's contract paid him about 10 times the average of most "Santa's helpers." The average mall Santa makes about $17 an hour -- "which is very decent pay for a Santa with a good heart."

Tagged: christmas, Santa Claus, Tysons Corner Center

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