Mall Public Relations: The Best Campaigns Ever Run

Mall public relations works when a mall gives people a reason to visit that no single store provides. Mall of America opened in 1992 with an amusement park inside it. Simon's Caring Santa grew from seven malls in 2011 to more than 300 Simon and Washington Prime malls by 2023. American Dream opened in 2019 with about 55 percent of its space given to entertainment.

The Eaton Centre ribbon case of 1982 shows the cost of a mall campaign that ignores a key stakeholder. This page ranks the campaigns by three tests and names the source for every fact.

What makes a mall campaign one of the best?

A mall campaign ranks among the best when it changes why people visit, leaves a record a reporter can check, and survives repetition. This page applies those three tests to every example below. Each campaign is tied to a named source with a date, so a reader can verify the claim.

The selection is this page's own judgment, not an industry ranking. Four examples pass at least two tests. A fifth, the Eaton Centre ribbon case, fails on purpose, because a list of best campaigns teaches more when it also shows what a campaign costs when one step is skipped.

The 2016 version of this page asked whether the closure of Macy's stores meant the end of malls. That question still frames the work. A mall that loses an anchor store needs a new reason for people to arrive, and each campaign below is an answer to that need.

How did Mall of America turn an amusement park into a PR asset?

Mall of America turned an indoor amusement park into its main PR asset by opening with one on August 11, 1992, in Bloomington, Minnesota. According to Mall of America figures reported by Business Insider in 2019, the mall opened with 330 stores and 10,000 employees. The complex stood on 78 acres, on the site of the Metropolitan Stadium, which was demolished in 1985, according to the Clio history entry.

The park inside the mall was Knott's Camp Snoopy, built around the Peanuts characters. Business Insider cited reports of more than a million visitors within a week of the opening, and noted that a 1992 television commercial carried a jingle about a place for fun. The New York Times described the 78-acre complex at its opening as a full-sensory display of consumerism.

The brand changed twice, and each change was a news event. Camp Snoopy closed in 2006 after the mall could not reach a licensing deal for the Peanuts characters, and the park became The Park at MOA. Nickelodeon announced a deal with the mall's owner, Triple Five, on July 25, 2007, and Nickelodeon Universe replaced the old park on March 15, 2008, according to the Nickelodeon Universe history on Wikipedia.

The rename came with a price decision. The Star Tribune reported on March 12, 2008, that the annual pass, which had cost $99 since 1992, would rise to $250 under the new name, and that a daily wristband would rise from $24.95 to $29.95. Business Insider later reported, citing the Star Tribune, that the new park contributed to an increase in mall traffic in 2011.

Why it works. A licensed brand gives a mall a name that families already recognize, so every ride announcement becomes a story about both the brand and the mall. The July 25, 2007 announcement and the Star Tribune's 2011 traffic report document the result. The traffic link is the newspaper's attribution, not a controlled study.

Why did Caring Santa spread from seven malls to more than 300?

Caring Santa spread because it removed a specific barrier for families of children with autism and gave each mall a repeatable holiday event. Simon Property Group partnered with Autism Speaks and Noerr Programs, and on Sunday, December 7, 2014, 120 Simon malls held sessions for two hours before opening, according to the Autism Speaks announcement.

The design addressed each stress point of a normal Santa visit. Disability Scoop reported in 2014 that the sessions used a numbering system instead of a line, turned off music, escalators and fountains, dimmed the lights, and used Santas trained or experienced with children who have disabilities. Families signed up online in advance.

The program grew in scale. A Simon event notice for Grapevine Mills reported that Caring Santa had expanded from seven Simon malls in 2011 to 108 malls. Disability Scoop reported on November 28, 2023, that more than 300 malls would host the events, called Caring Santa at Simon malls and Sensitive Santa at Washington Prime Group malls. Cherry Hill Programs offers the modified Santa experiences with Autism Speaks.

Why it works. The campaign names one barrier, long lines with bright lights and loud music, and removes it with measures a parent can picture before arriving. A partner with standing, Autism Speaks, lends the event credibility, and local outlets such as NECN, WSVN and Metro Parent covered it in different seasons. The 2011, 2014 and 2023 counts above are the dated record.

What did American Dream promise when it opened in 2019?

American Dream promised a destination where entertainment, not stores, drew the crowd, and it opened on October 25, 2019, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The complex covers about 3 million square feet, split about 55 percent entertainment and 45 percent retail, according to a Fox report from October 2019. The Fox report said the project had been in planning since 2003, and the Architect's Newspaper put its cost at $5 billion and named the Triple Five Group as the owner.

The opening message was built on firsts and scale. The Fox report described Nickelodeon Universe as an 8.5-acre indoor theme park with more than 35 rides, billed as the largest indoor theme park in North America. ABC7 New York listed a DreamWorks Water Park, an indoor ski and snowboard park billed as the first in North America, and an Angry Birds miniature golf course.

The opening was also incomplete. ABC7 reported on October 25, 2019, that much of the mall was still a construction zone and that many high-end stores had not opened. The water park and ski park were scheduled to open in later weeks, and the retail wing was scheduled for the spring of 2020. WorldAtlas later noted that the mall had about one quarter of operation before pandemic closures reached malls across the country.

Why it works, and where it strains. A phased opening gives a PR team several news dates instead of one, and each date can carry its own record or first. The cost is an expectation gap on day one. The ABC7 report of unfinished stores shows what a visitor sees when the message promises more than the property has opened.

What did the Eaton Centre ribbon case teach mall PR teams?

The Eaton Centre ribbon case taught mall PR teams that decorating a mall's public art without the artist's consent can end in court. Michael Snow's sculpture Flight Stop, completed in 1979, hangs in the Toronto Eaton Centre and consists of 60 Canada geese in flight. At Christmas in 1981, the mall tied red ribbons around the necks of the geese.

Snow sued, and the Ontario High Court of Justice decided the case on December 8, 1982, according to the Snow v. Eaton Centre Ltd. summary. The court found that the ribbons distorted the work and that Snow's concern about harm to his reputation was reasonable, and it ordered the ribbons removed. The decision is a leading Canadian case on the moral rights of artists.

The practical lesson is a consent step. Add one line to every seasonal campaign checklist: who made each fixed object in the property, and has that person approved the change? A holiday decoration became a lawsuit and a news story because that question went unasked.

How do the five examples compare?

The five examples differ in age, scale and outcome, and the table below sets the documented facts side by side. Each row names the source and date for the fact in the second column.

The table shows a pattern. The three campaigns that worked each tied a mall to something outside the mall: a licensed brand, a nonprofit partner, or a set of attractions with their own audience. The campaign that failed treated the mall's art as a decoration surface.

How did the 2016 Macy's closures change mall PR?

The Macy's closures announced in early 2016 turned the loss of an anchor store into a PR problem for every mall that held one. This site's February 8, 2016, analysis reported that Macy's planned to close up to 40 stores nationwide and that consultants called replacing it all but impossible. The same analysis argued that a mall that loses its anchor begins to drift.

That analysis described two reactions. Some owners looked at converting mall space to offices or churches. Others hoped for a different retail option, which the analysis said would take a new idea and a strong PR push.

The campaigns on this page are those new ideas, in different forms. Mall of America and American Dream replaced the anchor store with an anchor experience. Caring Santa kept a standard holiday visit and changed who it served. Each approach gives a reporter a concrete thing to describe, which a general statement about shopping does not.

What should a mall PR team do next?

A mall PR team should run five checks before the next campaign. The checks come straight from the four campaigns and the one failure above, and each one has a dated example.

1. Name the visitor barrier before the event. Caring Santa started with lights, noise and lines, and then built the fix around them.
2. Attach a recognizable partner and announce the partner's name with a date. Nickelodeon's July 25, 2007, announcement gave Mall of America a story before the ride opened.
3. Match the message to what is open. American Dream's phased openings worked as news dates, but the October 25, 2019, coverage of unfinished stores shows the risk.
4. Get written consent before altering any art or fixture. The Eaton Centre lost in court in December 1982 over ribbons.
5. Record the date, count and source of every claim on one public page. Caring Santa's counts of 120, 108 and more than 300 malls are quotable because each carries a source and a year.

Start with the first check. A mall that cannot name the barrier it removes does not have a campaign yet, only an event. For help with the media side of a launch, see how media relations and reputation management work together when a property faces both a launch and a risk.

Mall public relations questions answered

What is mall public relations?

Mall public relations is the work of building a mall's reputation with shoppers, tenants, local officials and reporters through events, partnerships and news. The campaigns above show three tools: a licensed brand, a nonprofit partner and a set of attractions. The Eaton Centre case shows the fourth requirement, which is checking the rights of every object the campaign touches.

What happened to Camp Snoopy at Mall of America?

Camp Snoopy closed in 2006 after Mall of America could not reach a licensing deal for the Peanuts characters. The park ran as The Park at MOA until Nickelodeon Universe replaced it on March 15, 2008, according to the park's history on Wikipedia and a KROC News retrospective.

How long has Caring Santa run?

Caring Santa has run since at least 2011, when it reached seven Simon malls, according to a Simon event notice. Autism Speaks documented 120 Simon malls on December 7, 2014, and Disability Scoop reported more than 300 malls across Simon and Washington Prime Group on November 28, 2023.

Was American Dream open in full on its first day?

American Dream was not open in full on October 25, 2019. ABC7 New York reported that much of the complex was still under construction, with the water park, ski park and many retail stores scheduled for later dates.

How was this page made?

This page was updated in October 2026 from the original February 8, 2016, article on Macy's store closures. It was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources named in each section. Figures that come from a single report, such as the opening-week visitor count at Mall of America, are marked as reported rather than confirmed.