Ep. 75: Deck the Mall

[00:00:00] Mall of America, it's home to world-class shopping, great dining, and amazing attractions and events. And these are our stories presented by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism.

[00:00:12] Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of So Much More. Excited to have you with us. Believe it or not, the holidays are in full swing here at Mall of America and I'm excited to talk about that with my co-host and my guest today. First, I'll introduce my co-host, Chris. How are you doing, man?

[00:00:29] Dan, I'm doing all right.

[00:00:30] Are you ready for the holidays?

[00:00:32] No, but are we ever?

[00:00:34] We never, but it's exciting.

[00:00:36] We prepare all year and then it's like, oh my gosh, but here we are.

[00:00:40] And here we are. It came faster than-

[00:00:41] So whether I'm ready or not doesn't matter.

[00:00:43] It doesn't, it's still gonna happen, isn't it?

[00:00:45] Because here it comes.

[00:00:45] We're here, we're here. I'm excited about it.

[00:00:48] Today, we're gonna talk about everything that it takes to get this building ready and festive and looking like the holidays.

[00:00:55] For those that have come out to Mall of America during the holiday season, we have enormous decorations.

[00:01:00] And beautiful decor and strings of lights hanging.

[00:01:04] And it takes a talented crew to get all of that into place.

[00:01:08] And our special guest today, Clayton Amberg, who is our interior maintenance manager, has been at the mall forever.

[00:01:15] Well, maybe not forever, but we'll talk about how long.

[00:01:18] But Clayton is the master, the expert at putting up holiday decor.

[00:01:23] Clayton, welcome to the show.

[00:01:24] Thank you, for having me.

[00:01:26] How are you doing?

[00:01:27] I'm doing all right.

[00:01:28] How long have you been at the mall?

[00:01:30] I've worked at the mall here for 24 years.

[00:01:32] 24 years. And how long have you been doing holiday decor setup?

[00:01:36] This is my 17th Christmas holiday decor setup.

[00:01:39] Okay. And we were just talking about this before we started taping. Let's go back 17 years ago.

[00:01:45] What was it like that very first year setting up the decor at Mall of America?

[00:01:51] It was interesting learning how the mall went about it, what exactly was involved,

[00:02:00] and we had large wreaths at the time.

[00:02:04] I remember, I thought of them as birds' nests.

[00:02:08] Yes.

[00:02:08] Do you remember those?

[00:02:09] I remember the birds' nests, yes. Those were about four or five years after I started when those came into effect.

[00:02:15] And that was an interesting setup as well.

[00:02:18] That was a fun process.

[00:02:20] How long, 17 years ago, how long did it take to get the mall fully decorated?

[00:02:25] When I first started, it took about five weeks.

[00:02:30] Wow.

[00:02:30] And we had less ornaments and lights than we do now.

[00:02:34] Okay. That's amazing.

[00:02:36] It is.

[00:02:36] It has transformed over the years. I'm going to have Chris talk about what some of our decor looks like in just a minute.

[00:02:42] But, I mean, it's amazing looking right now. I love the direction that you guys have taken this.

[00:02:48] But this year, how long did it take you and your team to completely decorate this enormous 5.6 million square foot building?

[00:02:55] We did it in five nights.

[00:02:57] Five nights. Is that a record?

[00:02:59] It is.

[00:03:00] Awesome.

[00:03:01] That is the quickest time ever.

[00:03:03] I actually don't know what's more impressive when you hear it took five weeks to do it and you think, wow, that takes a long time to get it ready, or five nights.

[00:03:12] Like, you got it all done in five nights.

[00:03:13] And it looks awesome.

[00:03:15] I mean, it absolutely looks amazing.

[00:03:17] Is it just because every year you learn new tricks and you know how to do it and you just have it down?

[00:03:21] Yeah, we have it down.

[00:03:23] A lot of it is preparation when we put it away.

[00:03:26] You know, how we put things in the room, what we learned putting up, what took time, and how can we mitigate that the following year?

[00:03:35] How can we make that process quicker?

[00:03:37] We build a lot of our own jigs or stuff that we lift the products with or the ornaments and trees and whatnot.

[00:03:45] We build extra carts so we can have more people doing the process.

[00:03:51] It's just learning from what you did the year before and make it better.

[00:03:54] Yeah, and you have a manual with you.

[00:03:56] What is what's in there?

[00:03:57] The binder.

[00:03:58] Yeah, for those at home, there's a big binder here with a lot of stuff in it.

[00:04:01] There is.

[00:04:02] This has all the layouts of where we put the trees, where the lights go, where the ornaments go, bolt patterns in there for the ornaments.

[00:04:12] And if we ever were to break one or something, we know exactly how to rebuild one.

[00:04:17] Okay, awesome.

[00:04:18] We're going to go a little bit.

[00:04:19] I'm going to take you kind of around the trip of the mall, if that's right.

[00:04:22] Okay.

[00:04:23] Chris, I'd love for you to describe something in this area, kind of the decor.

[00:04:26] Sure.

[00:04:26] And then maybe Clayton, you can talk about how your team works with Chris and his team and how you make it all look magical.

[00:04:33] Let's start at our north entrance, the atrium.

[00:04:36] People first walk in that.

[00:04:37] That's kind of our main entrance.

[00:04:39] What are they going to see, Chris, when they come in?

[00:04:41] The atrium is interesting because we have so much height and space there, similar to the rotunda, that we really wanted to make a pop and an impression there.

[00:04:50] And it kind of changed over time.

[00:04:52] But you get a nice pop of the trees, varying heights of trees, and a lot of the large element decor, the jack-in-the-box, some nutcrackers.

[00:05:01] And then using that ceiling space, we have the Enchanted Snowflake Experience, which, to be fair, I believe the first time you did the snowflake installation was five nights on its own.

[00:05:12] It was, yes.

[00:05:13] Wow.

[00:05:13] Wow.

[00:05:14] The fact that the whole thing happens that fast is impressive.

[00:05:17] But the Enchanted Snowflake Experience is 12 sculpted snowflakes that have pre-programmed holiday light shows in them.

[00:05:25] And so that really just sets the mood, sets the tone, sets the atmosphere extremely well over there.

[00:05:31] It's often.

[00:05:32] And how often do the snowflakes perform?

[00:05:34] Every half hour.

[00:05:36] A different song every half hour.

[00:05:37] There's, like I said, 14 different songs, so people don't go crazy.

[00:05:41] You, you know, our tenets up on level three.

[00:05:43] It's not Mariah Carey every 30 minutes.

[00:05:44] Yeah, exactly.

[00:05:45] We try and add a couple different songs every year, so we're growing the rotation of music that's there.

[00:05:50] And how large are those snowflakes?

[00:05:52] Do you happen to know?

[00:05:53] I don't know.

[00:05:54] Yep, it's 12.

[00:05:55] 11 foot, 8 foot, and 5.

[00:05:58] 11, 8, 5.

[00:05:58] Awesome.

[00:05:58] There's four of each heights.

[00:06:00] And how long does it take you guys to decorate the atrium area now that, I can't believe it, the first year it took five years just to do the snowflakes.

[00:06:07] Now you did this in-

[00:06:08] Five nights.

[00:06:08] Didn't take quite that long.

[00:06:10] Five nights.

[00:06:10] Sorry, did I say five years?

[00:06:12] Yes.

[00:06:12] It was not quite that long.

[00:06:13] Five nights.

[00:06:14] Felt like it probably was, yeah.

[00:06:16] I remember we came in that first night after install, and there was one hanging.

[00:06:20] And it was like, oh no, oh no.

[00:06:22] Well, you had to learn, right?

[00:06:23] You were learning the process.

[00:06:24] They were fresh out of the box, and a lot of that time was spent getting the height right, learning how to turn them, how do we, you know, making sure they're perfectly straight up and down.

[00:06:34] And that's why that period took a long time.

[00:06:37] After that, it went to three nights.

[00:06:39] Okay.

[00:06:39] So where were we were getting up?

[00:06:40] Fair to talk about that.

[00:06:42] There's a lot of attention to detail that not necessarily every guest would know or recognize.

[00:06:47] But what Clayton and his team do, I mean, they take it very seriously.

[00:06:50] It's really important.

[00:06:53] And you would have no idea that it used to take five nights and now it took five hours.

[00:06:58] But that's understanding what it is and having that process down.

[00:07:01] But they look fantastic.

[00:07:03] I love them.

[00:07:04] I think it's one of the coolest things we have.

[00:07:05] I do too.

[00:07:05] People absolutely enjoy them.

[00:07:07] So when you're doing the atrium, you and your team put up the snowflakes prior to the other decor?

[00:07:12] Yes.

[00:07:12] Just so you can, how do you put them up?

[00:07:14] We use a block and tackle with a rope.

[00:07:17] Okay.

[00:07:18] Old-fashioned.

[00:07:19] We're going old-fashioned, huh?

[00:07:21] You know, I go up in the Dinka lift, which is a 90-foot lift that we can tow around them all to get to all the heights.

[00:07:30] And then I go up, hook the block and tackle up, drop it down to the crew on the ground.

[00:07:35] They hook up the snowflake, raise it to the location.

[00:07:38] And it takes me five trips up and down with the Dinka lift in order to settle that ornament in place.

[00:07:44] Okay.

[00:07:44] Just to make sure it looks exactly right.

[00:07:46] Yeah.

[00:07:46] That's awesome.

[00:07:47] The attention to detail is phenomenal.

[00:07:50] And as you leave the atrium, we're going to come back to a certain thing next to the atrium in a little bit.

[00:07:56] But as you leave the atrium and you're walking up the north hallway, north garden, there's a number of displays along the way before you hit the pond.

[00:08:04] Chris, can you explain what those look like?

[00:08:06] Absolutely.

[00:08:06] Same thing, you know, beautiful trees, nutcrackers that sculpted varying in height from 12 to 14 feet with the tall hat probably.

[00:08:18] But each nutcracker is unique, has a different paint scheme and has a different hat.

[00:08:23] That was intentional.

[00:08:24] We were trying to make them visually distinct and different.

[00:08:28] And when we were looking at the color patterns, we tried to find the most frequently repeated color patterns of flags throughout the country.

[00:08:36] We wanted guests to be able to recognize something no matter where they came from.

[00:08:41] That was our intention.

[00:08:42] Nice.

[00:08:42] And we found most people just equate them to sports teams.

[00:08:45] Oh, okay.

[00:08:46] Doesn't matter.

[00:08:47] That one's the pitchers, dealers.

[00:08:48] Exactly.

[00:08:49] Exactly.

[00:08:50] I love it.

[00:08:51] We were going for this wholesome, everyone's included thing.

[00:08:54] Nope.

[00:08:54] My NFL team.

[00:08:55] No, yeah, yeah.

[00:08:55] Exactly.

[00:08:56] Yeah.

[00:08:58] So we put out these giant ornaments around the mall.

[00:09:01] We.

[00:09:02] Don't you love how I take credit for that?

[00:09:03] That's fine.

[00:09:04] Along with all of these trees.

[00:09:06] Clayton, how long does it take you guys to put out the ornaments and all the trees?

[00:09:10] And how many trees do we have of the beautiful silver trees throughout the mall?

[00:09:13] All the trees that we put out, we have 358 this year.

[00:09:16] Okay.

[00:09:17] Which is, I believe last year we were only at 270-ish.

[00:09:21] Okay.

[00:09:22] So we added a bunch this year.

[00:09:24] That's awesome.

[00:09:25] How long does it take to put all those out?

[00:09:27] That takes a full night.

[00:09:28] Okay.

[00:09:29] We run four 4x8s loaded up with trees from first floor and we have to run those to each level around and around we go.

[00:09:38] Because they are all over the mall, aren't they?

[00:09:40] All over the mall, yeah.

[00:09:40] People will see them everywhere they walk during the holiday season.

[00:09:44] We also do something kind of fun here.

[00:09:46] I was going to say, just to talk about that for a second.

[00:09:48] Yes, go ahead.

[00:09:49] One of my early years here when Clayton and I had just started working together,

[00:09:54] I got to ride on the back of a Cushman with the Christmas trees loaded on the 4x8 cart as we were going for a delivery.

[00:10:01] I was just very curious how this happened and loading them on and cruising around.

[00:10:06] And it was quite an operation.

[00:10:08] I don't even know if you remember that, but it was really fun.

[00:10:11] And does that comply with our training?

[00:10:13] No, I'm kidding.

[00:10:14] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:10:15] I mean, there was a seat there.

[00:10:16] It was good.

[00:10:17] Absolutely.

[00:10:18] It was good.

[00:10:19] It was good.

[00:10:21] And did you take any video of that?

[00:10:23] That would be really fun to see sometime.

[00:10:24] No, no, I didn't, but we should.

[00:10:26] That's awesome.

[00:10:27] I love that idea.

[00:10:28] Next year, we should actually do that when you're doing this.

[00:10:31] And you actually have a map that shows you every level of the mall and every exact location of how high of a tree to put there, correct?

[00:10:40] Yeah, we do.

[00:10:40] Yeah.

[00:10:41] Wow.

[00:10:41] And you follow that closely.

[00:10:43] We follow that to a T.

[00:10:44] To a T.

[00:10:44] You don't get it out?

[00:10:45] I love that.

[00:10:46] And what are the different heights of some of those trees?

[00:10:49] Do you know?

[00:10:49] We have six foot, eight foot, and 10 foot trees.

[00:10:52] Okay.

[00:10:53] Awesome.

[00:10:53] That is so much fun that you have a map all mapped out.

[00:10:56] We go down and from the pond, we hang a right.

[00:10:58] We go towards Nordstrom Court for those that are familiar with the mall.

[00:11:02] And hanging in that court are some beautiful items.

[00:11:05] Chris, what are they?

[00:11:05] Those are the large scale ornaments that Clayton was talking about earlier, and it was probably 10 years ago that we did the repaint on those.

[00:11:13] Because they used to be solid color.

[00:11:15] Yes, they did.

[00:11:16] And then we repainted them to match the rest of the decor that we got.

[00:11:20] And in each one of the ornaments, we hid a Mall of America star.

[00:11:24] So much of the decor around the building for holiday has a Mall of America star that's hidden in it.

[00:11:30] But yeah, those large scale ornaments over there, those are in the pond.

[00:11:35] Up in the air.

[00:11:36] It's awesome.

[00:11:37] For people that visit there, I see people taking pictures all the time.

[00:11:41] What's it take to get all those in place, Clayton?

[00:11:44] That is tricky.

[00:11:46] That is one of the most hardest things we have to do is to get those ornaments in place.

[00:11:50] With the scale and how large they are, lifting them in the air, trying to make sure that they're settled in place with our crane that we use.

[00:12:00] Two people, you know, going up in the Dinka lift again, hooking the cables up.

[00:12:04] And just it takes a lot of quiet and communication, talking to the people on the ground to get that lift perfectly in place before you release it into the air.

[00:12:12] And they're honestly, they are placed so artistically.

[00:12:16] Before you release it into the air.

[00:12:17] Yeah, exactly.

[00:12:17] Yeah.

[00:12:18] That's scary.

[00:12:19] It is.

[00:12:20] This is what you do at night.

[00:12:21] Exactly.

[00:12:22] Yeah.

[00:12:23] But if you look at them, I love it because they're, you know, they're angled different ways.

[00:12:27] And it just looks, well, it is intentional, but it looks beautiful when you're visiting those areas.

[00:12:33] You know, throughout the mall, we have some giant-sized toys.

[00:12:36] What are some of those toys, Chris?

[00:12:39] Yeah, that was intentional.

[00:12:40] Again, we did that probably about 10 years ago, but trying to play off of that nostalgia.

[00:12:44] So we did an oversized, I mean, very large tin toy robot, a dream car, a view master, a rocket ship where if you push a button, smoke comes out the back.

[00:12:55] It's fun to be able to have those elements placed all throughout the mall.

[00:12:59] So no matter which way a guest comes in or which path they take, they're going to engage with something like that.

[00:13:06] There's something magical.

[00:13:06] It's like, and I love the big jack-in-the-box, and there's so many of those toys that are fun.

[00:13:12] Those have got to be heavy.

[00:13:13] I'm assuming you use a lift or whatever to bring all of those out?

[00:13:17] Some of them, yes.

[00:13:18] Otherwise, other ones are just straight manpower.

[00:13:21] Lift them up and put them in place.

[00:13:22] Okay.

[00:13:23] Again, this is why we do it at night.

[00:13:25] Nobody's looking.

[00:13:26] You'll just show up and it's all in place.

[00:13:28] Here we go.

[00:13:31] We're going to skip now to our rotunda, which is our other large, massive 5,000-square-foot event space.

[00:13:37] Chris, for those who have never been here or for those who have been here, describe what that looks like for the holidays.

[00:13:42] I mean, honestly, that is truly one of the most – it feels very magical.

[00:13:47] The two 44-foot-tall trees with the twinkling lights, those anchor the stage.

[00:13:56] Holiday music festival is a big piece.

[00:13:58] So there's also some smaller trees in there.

[00:14:01] There's a lot of festive lighting in there using our own in-house lighting system.

[00:14:06] But with those two giant trees anchoring that space, you can't help but feel the holiday spirit.

[00:14:13] It's beautiful.

[00:14:14] Yes.

[00:14:15] Your team does not put those up, correct?

[00:14:17] We do not assemble them.

[00:14:19] No.

[00:14:19] We have some outside help that comes and do that because you're too busy with the other stuff and trying to make sure all that.

[00:14:25] And holidays come quickly, so we have to make sure everything is up and running.

[00:14:28] Going to ask about storage.

[00:14:30] Is that all right?

[00:14:31] Or do you have something to bring up?

[00:14:32] With those two 44-foot trees, I would say that's one of the most photographed holiday photos that I see.

[00:14:39] But I imagine because I see everybody there and they're right against the tree and it's close up.

[00:14:43] You would have to explain to somebody.

[00:14:45] So hopefully they're taking wide shots as well.

[00:14:47] It looks like they're just against a silver background.

[00:14:49] Yeah, exactly.

[00:14:51] Everyone, families constantly take their photos in front of those trees.

[00:14:55] And you're right.

[00:14:55] They're right next to it.

[00:14:56] Which is why we changed – they used to just have regular stanchions around them, but we changed it to the more intentional red velvet stanchions.

[00:15:04] So because so many people take pictures there, we wanted it to look –

[00:15:07] Look really nice.

[00:15:09] Intentional and a little bit more festive at holiday versus functional.

[00:15:11] Yep.

[00:15:11] I agree.

[00:15:12] It looks amazing.

[00:15:14] I want to talk about the storage area a little bit.

[00:15:17] But first of all, Clayton, how many on your team or how many people help you set up all of this holiday decor?

[00:15:23] There's only six of us that do it.

[00:15:25] Wow.

[00:15:26] Six of you to decorate this entire building in five days.

[00:15:30] Yes.

[00:15:31] Was it anybody's first holiday with you this year?

[00:15:34] One person, it was their first holiday.

[00:15:36] And what did they think?

[00:15:39] He just couldn't believe it.

[00:15:42] I bet, right?

[00:15:43] He was, what are we doing now?

[00:15:46] You want me to do what?

[00:15:48] Yeah.

[00:15:49] I remember that I was walking through the mall early one morning and I saw you on your cart and you said, we just finished in record time.

[00:15:58] Yep.

[00:15:58] It was awesome.

[00:15:59] I feel like I've heard that the last four years now.

[00:16:01] And that's great, right?

[00:16:03] Right.

[00:16:03] Right.

[00:16:03] So four days next year?

[00:16:06] No.

[00:16:07] A little ambitious.

[00:16:09] Yeah, a little ambitious.

[00:16:09] You know, something else our guests see too when they walk through the mall, especially at the holiday season, is all the hanging lights, the ribbons of lights.

[00:16:18] The twinkling lights.

[00:16:19] Yeah, the twinkling lights.

[00:16:20] They're just gorgeous.

[00:16:20] We leave some on the west side up all year, but then you hang additional.

[00:16:27] How many lights are there and what's it take to hang those up?

[00:16:31] Well, there's about 10 miles of light that's out there.

[00:16:35] Wow.

[00:16:36] Okay.

[00:16:37] Currently hung.

[00:16:38] And that's a process in itself.

[00:16:40] There's 12 light strands per light bar and those, we string them out.

[00:16:45] We put a piece of wood at the very end so they don't get tangled as we're hauling them up.

[00:16:49] Yep.

[00:16:50] And then we just hook them up to the ceiling, pull them up with a rope.

[00:16:54] Yep.

[00:16:55] And move on to the next one.

[00:16:57] You know, I've often joked what happens when one light bulb goes out, right?

[00:17:01] The old joke.

[00:17:01] But actually that morning, that same morning you were going down because one of the strings of lights wasn't lit up.

[00:17:07] So you were going to go have to fix it or replace it.

[00:17:09] Yep.

[00:17:09] How often does that happen?

[00:17:11] Not that often.

[00:17:13] Okay.

[00:17:13] We usually catch them, we plug them in before they go up and make sure they're working.

[00:17:16] And they'll very rarely will one go out during the holiday season.

[00:17:21] Okay.

[00:17:22] And if it does, we'll catch it next year.

[00:17:25] What is your favorite holiday decor to put up here at Mall of America?

[00:17:29] I really like putting up the large ornaments.

[00:17:31] Okay.

[00:17:32] Because they're the hardest and I think they just look amazing in there.

[00:17:37] The difficulty, the challenge with them, I like a good challenge.

[00:17:41] They do look amazing.

[00:17:42] What's the one you dread every single year?

[00:17:45] You can say it.

[00:17:46] The snowflakes.

[00:17:48] I'm sorry.

[00:17:50] So please appreciate the snowflakes when you see them, right?

[00:17:53] That'll be so much fun.

[00:17:55] Chris, what's your favorite holiday decor here at the mall?

[00:17:58] Sorry.

[00:17:58] It's probably the snowflakes.

[00:18:00] Okay.

[00:18:01] No, it's tough to say because it really kind of depends on what time of the season we're in.

[00:18:07] Yeah.

[00:18:08] When it's Black Friday, I love the atrium.

[00:18:11] I think it's fantastic.

[00:18:12] And to have so much activity there as we transition later into the season.

[00:18:17] The rotunda is beautiful.

[00:18:18] But you really just can't beat walking around and taking it all in.

[00:18:23] There's so much to take in.

[00:18:25] But if I had to pick one thing, I'd say the snowflakes, they're unique to this property.

[00:18:29] They're dynamic.

[00:18:30] They're not just holiday decoration.

[00:18:33] They're seasonal decoration.

[00:18:34] And when they start to do their show and guests are there and don't expect it, I love that we can surprise guests with that.

[00:18:41] So I thank you for enduring that year after year.

[00:18:46] Why don't you share a few other numbers I see of a sheet with some numbers.

[00:18:50] Just share some of the size and scope of the ornaments and holiday decor that's here.

[00:18:56] Well, the large ornaments, there's 22 of them total.

[00:18:59] Okay.

[00:18:59] Fourteen, we actually hang up in the air and then the other ones sit on the ground or throughout the amusement park.

[00:19:06] A lot of them were repainted to be Nickelodeon, Spongebob-specific characters in Nickelodeon universe.

[00:19:11] And those are eight feet in diameter and the smaller ones are five feet in diameter.

[00:19:17] Okay.

[00:19:18] We have seven nutcrackers.

[00:19:20] The 44-foot trees, there are close to 1,200 branches on that.

[00:19:26] Individual branches that get hung every year.

[00:19:28] Okay.

[00:19:30] That's a lot.

[00:19:30] That's a lot of fluffing.

[00:19:32] And that is daytime work too.

[00:19:35] Yes.

[00:19:35] So bike rack off the rotunda so people can come and watch those being assembled too.

[00:19:40] And they do.

[00:19:40] And that's fun that we're able to do that.

[00:19:42] And more than one mall walker stops and says, hey, you got to fix this over here.

[00:19:47] Do they do that for you guys too?

[00:19:49] No, you're good at night.

[00:19:50] Do they?

[00:19:50] Yeah.

[00:19:50] In the morning when the mall walkers show up, they'll be like, hey, we noticed this was up and it wasn't correct.

[00:19:55] You know, light bars are out.

[00:19:57] You forgot that one or forgot this one.

[00:19:59] So they'll point us out.

[00:20:01] Never mind the 99 things we did right.

[00:20:03] Thanks for noticing that light isn't doing it.

[00:20:05] They love it.

[00:20:06] They own this place, right?

[00:20:07] They have an ownership in it.

[00:20:08] So they want to make it look perfect too.

[00:20:10] We didn't talk about Nickelodeon quickly.

[00:20:12] You talked about the giant ornaments that are painted SpongeBob theme and they're just so festive.

[00:20:17] But there's special trees in there.

[00:20:19] Chris, describe the trees.

[00:20:20] And then you can talk about, Clayton, how they get set up as well.

[00:20:23] Yeah, those are fun too.

[00:20:23] There's three different types of trees in Nickelodeon universe.

[00:20:26] And all of them have a different Nickelodeon branding.

[00:20:29] I like them because, again, guests can see them one way.

[00:20:32] It just looks like there's three different trees.

[00:20:33] But if you look close enough, the snowflakes are all different Nickelodeon characters or shows that are represented in the designs of the snowflakes.

[00:20:43] Ninja Turtles, Bubble Guppies, Paw Patrol, SpongeBob, Dora.

[00:20:46] They're fun.

[00:20:46] I think those are really well done.

[00:20:48] And they're all lit as well.

[00:20:50] A little bit more designed and less traditional, but it feels right for Nickelodeon universe.

[00:20:55] They're playful.

[00:20:56] Yeah.

[00:20:57] What's it take to set those up, Clayton?

[00:20:59] Those are a little difficult to set up.

[00:21:02] And that's taken one of our most evolutionary sets that we've had to come across and develop how we do it in the process.

[00:21:12] We started off the first year just manhandling each section.

[00:21:16] And they're big.

[00:21:17] Every section comes apart and there's a little block of wood in between.

[00:21:21] And we were muscling them.

[00:21:24] We were lifting them up by hand.

[00:21:25] And then the following year, we used a crane that we used for the ornaments.

[00:21:30] And that was a hassle.

[00:21:33] Just setting that up, moving around.

[00:21:35] And it got to a forklift now.

[00:21:38] Okay.

[00:21:38] Where I hang a rope off the end of the forks with a boom.

[00:21:43] And we just drop a little seven-inch bar in there, picks them up, swings them in place.

[00:21:47] Awesome.

[00:21:47] And on we go.

[00:21:48] And you know the floor in Nickelodeon is level no place.

[00:21:53] Nowhere.

[00:21:53] How do you level those trees?

[00:21:55] Is that a hassle?

[00:21:57] It's not.

[00:21:58] There's four feet on the bottom.

[00:22:00] Oh, okay.

[00:22:01] They're just.

[00:22:02] So it's not bad.

[00:22:03] Not bad.

[00:22:03] We at least knew we should do that.

[00:22:05] Thank you.

[00:22:05] When they were being designed.

[00:22:08] You talked to Chris about the hidden designs, kind of the designed in elements of characters and stuff in the trees.

[00:22:14] One of the things I love the most during the holidays is walking around and watching kids because kids notice those.

[00:22:21] Most adults don't.

[00:22:22] We walk by and go, oh, that's pretty.

[00:22:23] But a lot of kids stop and they absolutely love those, which is so much fun.

[00:22:27] I'm going to talk really quickly about storage.

[00:22:30] And then I'm going to, we're going to end this up with a few quick questions that you're not expecting.

[00:22:34] Is that all right, Clayton?

[00:22:35] That's fine.

[00:22:36] Why not?

[00:22:37] Well, first of all, how long does it take?

[00:22:39] When do you start taking down holiday decor and do you do that in five days?

[00:22:44] We usually start taking down sometime after the new year.

[00:22:48] We look at the calendar and the first Sunday after the new year is when we start taking down.

[00:22:52] Okay.

[00:22:53] And that last year we took down a record time of five nights.

[00:22:57] Oh, okay.

[00:22:58] Awesome.

[00:22:58] Five nights seems to be the key here.

[00:23:00] You guys are good.

[00:23:02] We have a couple of really big areas where we store all of our holiday decor.

[00:23:07] And for anyone who's ever been on a behind-the-scenes tour, you've had the chance to see that.

[00:23:12] Clayton actually works with us to make sure as he stores things in these giant crates that they also look good for the tours as well.

[00:23:20] But talk a little bit about how you manage those areas so that you're more efficient next year.

[00:23:26] So as we take down, I take down in the order with what I want in the back of the room versus front of the room.

[00:23:32] I always start with setting out the large ornaments and those are in the front of the room and last to go in, mainly because they're the largest item.

[00:23:40] Get them out of the way, you've got more room to work in each of the storage areas.

[00:23:44] It's just kind of that thought process of how we put things and take things out.

[00:23:48] I love it, and I love taking tour groups in there because to me it reminds me of the final scene of Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark when he's rolling the big crate, right?

[00:23:58] It kind of feels like that, doesn't it?

[00:24:00] It's awesome.

[00:24:01] So thank you for doing all of that.

[00:24:03] I'm just going to ask you really quickly some quick answers on the holidays in general.

[00:24:07] Is that all right?

[00:24:08] Yeah.

[00:24:09] What is your favorite holiday treat, Chris?

[00:24:12] Whatever that can be.

[00:24:14] Yeah, it's going to be a holiday beverage.

[00:24:17] Okay.

[00:24:18] Any specific one?

[00:24:19] Caffeinated, so it's going to be like the peppermint mocha or Lululemon's Fuel Space just did their new menu.

[00:24:29] Okay.

[00:24:29] So they have like a candy cane cold brew and a cinnamon dulce de leche latte.

[00:24:33] I've got to work my way through that, but I love getting festive holiday coffee and walking the mall.

[00:24:38] I love it.

[00:24:39] Clayton?

[00:24:40] I like the chocolate covered cherries.

[00:24:45] Oh, okay.

[00:24:45] That's all.

[00:24:46] And I've already bought in two boxes and they're already gone.

[00:24:49] I love it.

[00:24:50] And where did you find them?

[00:24:51] Because they're getting harder to find and that's a tradition in my family.

[00:24:54] Target.

[00:24:54] Okay.

[00:24:55] I got to go to Target tonight.

[00:24:56] Here I come.

[00:24:57] What's your favorite holiday meal?

[00:25:00] Ham.

[00:25:01] Okay.

[00:25:01] Ham and mashed potatoes.

[00:25:02] Nice.

[00:25:03] It's kind of solid.

[00:25:05] Yep.

[00:25:05] Chris?

[00:25:06] It's all about the sides.

[00:25:07] Okay.

[00:25:07] So the mashed potatoes, stuffing, green beans, like those are the things that matter at the holiday.

[00:25:14] Awesome.

[00:25:14] Turkey's wildly overrated.

[00:25:15] Yeah.

[00:25:16] And so my question then is, do you like looking for sales on Black Friday or the day after Christmas?

[00:25:23] Are you a shopper at all?

[00:25:25] No.

[00:25:25] Okay.

[00:25:25] So you avoid that kind of stuff.

[00:25:27] I avoid, yeah.

[00:25:28] Chris?

[00:25:28] Yeah.

[00:25:29] Sarah and I like to go out and take a look around and see what's out there.

[00:25:33] It's not so much driven by sales, but it's more just like, I love going to Anthropologie and seeing their new holiday decor and things like that.

[00:25:41] So we make a few nights out of it.

[00:25:43] It's fun.

[00:25:43] Love it.

[00:25:44] And final question.

[00:25:45] A favorite holiday tradition and or movie?

[00:25:49] Christmas Story.

[00:25:50] Oh, yes.

[00:25:51] When it starts that 24-hour marathon, that is all that is on our TV during Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

[00:25:58] I love it.

[00:25:59] I love it.

[00:26:00] Chris?

[00:26:00] On Christmas Day, Sarah, Dax, and I make meatball sliders with King's Hawaiian rolls and watch the Muppet Christmas Carol.

[00:26:08] Very fun.

[00:26:09] That is my favorite.

[00:26:10] Traditions are amazing.

[00:26:11] Or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer when it's on TV.

[00:26:13] Yes.

[00:26:13] Because you've got to watch it with the commercials.

[00:26:15] Yep, yep.

[00:26:15] You need a break in there.

[00:26:16] That's one of it.

[00:26:17] It's too intense.

[00:26:19] That's a dramatic story.

[00:26:21] You've got to have a break.

[00:26:23] What about you?

[00:26:24] Oh, for me, I love watching anything with my grandkids because they just love watching TV.

[00:26:30] Or actually, what they do more than anything is play games and look at their new presents and stuff.

[00:26:36] So for me, that's fun.

[00:26:37] And then walking around the mall, holiday treats.

[00:26:40] I kind of like to pick up a cookie or something, just a holiday cookie.

[00:26:44] Something like that's really fun.

[00:26:45] So we're going to kind of close up this episode.

[00:26:49] Clayton, thank you to you and your crew for the amazing work that you do getting this place looking so festive.

[00:26:57] Chris, I know.

[00:26:58] Yeah, go ahead.

[00:26:58] I was going to say, and just over the years, Clayton had been here a long time before I was here.

[00:27:03] And then getting brought into holiday, it's been so much fun to work with you over the years.

[00:27:07] You have so many good ideas and such a passion for it.

[00:27:11] And kind of like the love-hate gamification push and pull of like, how fast are we going to get it done this year?

[00:27:17] But the fact that you have so many ideas and you're always thinking about it really makes it a lot of fun.

[00:27:21] And I hope you feel that when you walk through the space too.

[00:27:24] Oh, I do.

[00:27:25] Get to see the guests interact with all the work you do.

[00:27:27] Yeah, especially with the current setup.

[00:27:29] I was heavily involved, like you said, with the current ornaments out there.

[00:27:33] Then the large sculpts and stuff, getting involved with that was really, really fun for me.

[00:27:40] It took all year, but we got to die.

[00:27:43] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[00:27:44] It was an interesting process.

[00:27:46] And as much as I like the current stuff, maybe we'll do it again in the future.

[00:27:53] You never know, right?

[00:27:55] At some point it's going to happen, right?

[00:27:56] Got it to five days.

[00:27:57] Where's the next challenge?

[00:27:58] I know.

[00:27:59] I love it.

[00:27:59] I love it.

[00:28:01] Let's slow down.

[00:28:03] Let's have this win.

[00:28:04] Yeah.

[00:28:05] I do enjoy this Christmas setup.

[00:28:09] I really like it.

[00:28:10] No one now is involved with it.

[00:28:12] And you take great pride in it too.

[00:28:14] Yeah, I do.

[00:28:14] I do.

[00:28:15] Which is awesome and it shows.

[00:28:16] So for everything that you and your team do, thank you so much.

[00:28:19] Chris, thanks for joining us today.

[00:28:21] Thank you.

[00:28:21] And for everyone watching and listening to so much more, you have to come to Mall of America

[00:28:27] this holiday season and check out all the amazing work that these guys do because this

[00:28:32] place looks better than any place else you can imagine.

[00:28:35] And thanks for tuning in.

[00:28:36] We'll catch you next time.

[00:28:39] Thanks for listening to so much more on Mall of America Podcast.

[00:28:42] Subscribe wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

[00:28:45] This show is presented by Bloomington, Minnesota Travel and Tourism.