Galleria Dallas can make a couple of big claims about its new hit Santaland experience, calling it the “most magical” and “the safest.” And in the process, it also kept two creative Dallas businesses afloat.
The mall hired Bayer Brothers Sets and Motus Booth to design and operate Santaland and, for the second year in a row, Snowday. Those two companies launched a new business, Baymo, to create high-quality immersive experiences that are in effect stages for social media-ready and sharable photography.
The owners of the two companies met in early 2019 while working in New York for Neiman Marcus. Chuck Steelman, who had hired both Bayer Brothers and Motus while he was working at Neiman Marcus, is now vice president of experience at Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co., which manages the Galleria and other shopping centers.
“Chuck gave us these two big spaces and said go to town,” said Scott Bayer, 36. The two companies still operate their separate businesses, but the work they’re doing under the Baymo brand “is now our passion project,” he said.
“Opportunities with the Galleria invigorated new life into our business,” said Bayer, who co-founded the set-building business with his brother Josh Bayer in 2008. They grew up in Muenster, west of Gainesville, and did home construction until that business dried up during the Great Recession. They then discovered that people in fashion and commercial photography need set creators and carpenters and pivoted to set building.
Motus Booth was co-founded in 2018 by three Dallas natives, Scot and Kristi Redman and Ben Haschke, who create elaborate photo booth experiences with proprietary technology.
“Both of our companies were very busy, and then in March [2020] it all stopped,” said Scot Redman. “We went from 365 events in 2019 to 20 in 2020. We pivoted to drive-through photo booths.”
During the early days of the drought, Redman said, he built a nice garden and Scott Bayer built a bed.
The Galleria gave both companies a springboard into the high-quality immersive experience business when the pandemic sapped them of their regular gigs.
Baymo created the first Snowday experience in 2019 for the Plaza at Preston Center but lost money on that project until it moved in 2020 to Galleria Dallas, where there was more traffic. Snowday has grown to 20 rooms with interactive experiences and visuals.
In May, Baymo also created an interactive and immersive 1970s laundromat and bodega experience called POP! that was open all summer. POP! gave the Galleria more than a million impressions on social media and is now operating in Bridgewater Commons, a mall in New Jersey.
Baymo started making Santaland back in January with funds “well into the six figures” from the Galleria and the owners’ labor, time and talent, said Angie Freed, general manager of the Galleria. Baymo receives additional compensation from entry fees as it operates the experiences. Together the two experiences employ 50 people, 30 on the creative side, including real actors who play the elf on the shelf, and 20 in operations.
What makes Santaland the most magical?
There’s a big buildup to the visit with Santa. Families ride on the rumbling express train, where they look out the windows at the changing countryside. Then they walk through a “moonlit forest along an enchanted path filled with starry lights” to Santa’s chalet. There, Santa already has an idea about what the kiddos want for Christmas and knows the siblings’ names.
It’s not pandemic 2020′s standing in a line out in the mall corridor for your turn with Santa seated way up on his sleigh behind a Plexiglass screen.
What makes it the safest?
The Santaland Express staff is using medical-grade disinfectants — electrostatic spraying — on high-touch areas of the experience and cleaning frequently. Santa’s chalet, the only fully enclosed space, is protected by technology from Addison-based CASPR Group that continuously cleans viruses and bacteria off air and surfaces. Santa is vaccinated, and children don’t have to wear masks. They sit on a bench beside him. Santa will wear a face shield if families prefer that.
“Baymo had a vision and made it happen,” Freed said. “They, too, have families and wanted it to be the most magical, layered in technology. It’s not your typical mall photo operator experience.”
Santaland is bringing additional traffic to the mall from people who wanted to see an “in-person” Santa, Freed said. NorthPark Center decided to make its Santa virtual for the second consecutive year.
Galleria Santa reservations are more than double last year’s numbers and are up 20% from 2019, Freed said.
The new experiences bring a new layer to Galleria’s longtime holiday traditions of the 95-foot Christmas tree in the ice rink and its official unveiling on Black Friday with a skating Santa and indoor fireworks.
The mall doesn’t know yet whether the new Santaland is a moneymaker, but, Freed said, “It’s meant to be a gift to North Texas.”
Twitter: @MariaHalkias
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