For The First Time, Santa Is Coming To Walmart

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You can buy just about anything on Amazon, but do you know what you can’t find on the mega-retailer’s site? Santa. That’s one of the reasons why Walmart is trying something new and bringing Santaland to Wally World. Stores also plan to have more decorations than in the past––no, not just on the shelves for you to buy, but on the walls, decorating the place.

Fortune reports that the company’s chief operating officer explained the Santa plan to reporters last week, framing it as an improvement to stores during the crucial holiday season. Walmart also plans to put up more decorations and play more Christmas music in stores.

Walmart isn’t alone in this: Target also plans to step up their holiday decorations game, though they aren’t going as far as hiring Santas to take pictures with kids. Yet. Maybe if the idea works at Walmart, there will be a Santa boom.

Retailers aim to make their stores more “fun,” and that includes giving shoppers experiences that they can’t get online. You can e-mail Santa, but you can’t take a picture of your child screaming hysterically while sitting on his lap online.

Hey, know what else you can do while you’re at Walmart? You could pick up your online orders so you don’t have to pay shipping. Maybe buy some stuff, too.

Here’s what Walmart is doing to win the holiday season [Fortune]

by Laura Northrup via Consumerist