VIDEO TRANSCRIPT: Destiny USA gears up for another chaotic holiday season
Vincent Zakian: On the off chance that you haven’t seen the giant tree in Destiny Mall in Syracuse, you should probably know it’s the holiday season. That means it is the most fun, profitable, chaotic, and busy time for New York’s largest mall. Jaden Farrell is a Destiny veteran, having worked at four of the mall’s stores. He gave us insight into the holiday business rush that occurs every year.
Jaden Farrell: It gets busy, man, especially during this time of year, everybody doing their Christmas shopping, early Christmas shopping. I would say it gets a little chaotic sometimes, you know, with all the people around. I love it though. I love the chaos, every now and then. I love talking to the people.
Zakian: And who better to ask about business during Christmas time than the man who delivers millions of presents around the world every year? How long have you been doing this?
Jerry “Santa Claus”: One thousand seven hundred and fifty four years.
Vincent Zakian: That’s a long time.
Jerry “Santa Claus”: What’s great about this mall is Santa sees people from around the world. Last year, when Santa was here, I saw people from Germany, Australia, England, and Israel. That’s one of the really cool things about working here at Destiny. It’s a big mall, and lots of people go.
Zakian: Okay, so maybe Santa isn’t the guy to ask about business. But heed Jaden’s warning.
Farrell: The line’s out the door, man. We’ve had lines out the door before.
Zakian: And get shopping done early before Santa has to do the work for you. Vincent Zakian, NCC News.
LIVERPOOL, N.Y. (NCC News) – It is the holiday season in Central New York, and that spells chaos for retailers everywhere. It can even be difficult to accommodate at New York’s largest mall, Destiny USA in Syracuse.
Jaden Farrell is a veteran of Destiny’s various retail stores, having worked at Sunglass Hut and Brooks Brothers to name a few. Now at FYE, he has learned to embrace the chaos that is working at a mall in December.
“It gets busy man, especially during this time of year, everybody doing their Christmas shopping, early Christmas shopping,” Farrell said. “I would say it gets a little chaotic sometimes, you know, all the people around. I love it though. I love the chaos, every now and then. I love talking to the people.”
Who better to give insight into the holiday business rush than the man at the center of Destiny’s Christmas operation, their own Santa Claus. He looked at the positive side of having a packed mall.
“What’s great about this mall is Santa sees people from around the world,” said Santa, a delightful man whose real name is Jerry. “Last year, when Santa was here, I saw people from Germany, and Australia, and England and Israel. That’s one of the really cool things about working here at Destiny. It’s a big mall and lots of people go.”
In case Santa Claus doesn’t have you covered, Farrell warned not to delay the Christmas shopping at Destiny.
“The line’s out the door man, we’ve had lines out the door before,” Farrell said.
Despite the consistent rise of online shopping hurting malls and shopping centers around the country, it is still all hands on deck at Destiny in Syracuse during the holiday season.