◼ BUSINESS Bloomberg Businessweek November 23, 202016
● Theairlinesendsnewjetsona worldtour instead of
basingthemin theU.S.Delta’sFlight Planto Avoid
Trump’sTariffs
Deltahasmadenosecretaboutitsaversion to
thetariffstheTrumpadministrationplaced on
EuropeanjetlinersimportedintotheU.S. But
morethanjustgrousingaboutthefees,Delta Air
LinesInc.hasfounda waytosidestepmillions
ofdollarsofthelevies:byinitiallyrouting new
planesfaroutsideitshomecountrytosuchplaces
asAmsterdam,Tokyo,andElSalvador.
The U.S. carrier has taken delivery of
sevenEuropean-builtAirbusSE planessince
PresidentTrump’sleviestookeffectinOctober
2019.RatherthanflyingthemtotheU.S.as it’s
doneinthepast,Deltahasbasedtheaircraftover-
seas.Thedecision,coupledwiththeawkward
definitionofnewplanesinthetariffrules,hasTHEBOTTOMLINE Malloperatorsandretailershavelong
countedonSantaClausdisplaystoluremoreshoppersduring the
Christmasseason.Thepandemicwillputthattothetest.$24.95.AndAirbnbInc.—whosemainshort-term
lodgingbusinesshasbeencrushedbyCovid—is
marketingonlineexperienceswithSt.Nicholasput
onbymembersofitsfar-flungnetworkofhosts.
Theyincludeeverythingfromchattingwitha “real”
SantaClausinLapland,Finland,tosharingstory
timewithSantaMikeinLosAngelestoconversing
witha so-calledSignLanguageSantainAthens,Ga.
HireSanta,a platformwhereretailersandoth-
ersfindClausesforappearances,hasseeninterest
invirtualvisitsspikeabout500%fromlastyear,
accordingtofounderMitchAllen.Still,toaccom-
modatethosepreferringtraditionalin-person vis-
its, HireSanta has created its own “Santa Shields,”
plexiglass barriers with small built-in benches at
the base for children to sit on while Santa chats
with them from his chair on the other side. “Our
expenses have gone way up, from both the devel-
opment cost and then also creating these physical
barriers,” says Allen, who pitched his on-demand
Santa business on ABC’s Shark Tank in 2018 and
left with a $200,000 investment from entrepre-
neur Barbara Corcoran. “We’re doing that so that
we can actually provide our service. Our revenue
is going to be higher this year, but our margins will
be lower, primarily because of providing all of this
safety equipment.”
After years of hosting a parade of random chil-
dren sharing their wish lists, only about 30% of
Santas say they’ll conduct in-person interactions
as normal this year, according to a recent survey
by the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas, a
group of performers founded a quarter century ago
that boasts 450 active members. An additional 31%
say they’ll do them but with very strict conditions,
such as physical barriers and temperature checks,
while 22% say they won’t do them at all.
Ric Erwin, the chairman of the Santa order,
decided not to do any in-person visits this holiday
season after his father-in-law died from Covid in
May. During a regular year, he usually has 90 to 120
bookings in the weeks between Thanksgiving and
Christmas, coming in close contact with anywhere
from 5,000 to 15,000 people and making $12,
to $15,000. This year, as of mid-November, he had
170 bookings, all of them to be done in a virtual for-
mat. “I promised my wife and my mother-in-law
that I would take zero chances of bringing back the
virus into this home, even if that meant giving up
my Santa season this year,” he says.
Joe McGrievy, a California Santa who’s the frater-
nal order’s vice president, is trying a different route:
shelling out thousands of dollars to buy a red car
and a green screen to do drive-up and virtual vis-
its. He hopes those costs will be worth it, since he’llgettodomorevisitsfromhomeinsteadoftraveling
toappearancesalloverthestate.Butwhateverhe
makesonthesepandemic-tweakedgigs,it won’t
beanywherenearthe$20,000heusually brings in
during Santa season. “I don’t expect to hit more
than $8,000 this year,” McGrievy said early in the
booking season. “That’s my income. I take that
$20,000 and I put $1,000 away in an envelope for
each month; that way I live each month and have a
certain income besides my Social Security. So this
year that won’t be happening.”
Some entrepreneurs are betting that alter-
natives to the mall holiday experience will be in
demand even when the pandemic ends. Wikipedia
co-founder Jimmy Wales in November launched an
app called Santa HQ that offers a live video call ser-
vice with Santa. Wales expects high demand this
season and doesn’t see it winding down in years to
come. “If the experience is good—and we’re trying
really hard to make it be a good experience with
well-trained performers—then people will talk
about it,” he says. “They’ll say, ‘Oh yeah, this was
fantastic.’ It’s much better than standing in line.”
�Carolina Gonzalez, with Natalie Wong